Odisha court awards death penalty to rape & murder accused

Baripada: A local court in Odisha awarded death penalty to a youth accused in 2018 Betanati minor girl rape and murder case here today.

Based on statements by 27 witnesses, the ADJ Court in Baripada pronounced death sentence for accused Jaminikant Mohanta, a resident of Garudabasa village under Betnoti (Betanati) police limits of Mayurbhanj district.

Jaminikant was the accused of raping an 8-year-old tribal girl and brutally killing her on June 18, 2018.

According to reports, the gruesome incident had taken place on the occasion of Raja when the entire village was celebrating the festival with fanfare. While the minor girl was learning to ride a bicycle, the youth took her to a nearby forest on the pretext of teaching her to ride cycle quickly and stoned her to death after rape.

As the victim did not return to home, her family members searched her everywhere. Based on input of some villagers, who had seen the accused taking the girl to the forest, the family along with the locals interrogated him to know whereabouts of the victim. As he denied to reveal anything, they beat him up following which they informed the police.

Following complaint by the family, the police initiated probe into the incident and recovered the victim’s body from the forest.

The police arrested Jaminikant and forwarded him to the court.

The verdict was pronounced by the court just one and two months after the incident in presence of family members of the victim.