Bhubaneswar: A court in Odisha’s Keonjhar district today sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing a woman and her son in September, 2020.

The Additional District Sessions Judge in Keonjhar convicted accused Debashis Das after examining at least 18 witnesses and other evidence to the case.

As per the case records, the woman and her son were beggars and they were staying at Kaligaon under Nandipada police limits in Keonjhar.

The mother-son duo was beaten to death by Das after they refused to provide money to him.

Das set the bodies on fire after dousing them with petrol. The police had arrested Das after registering a case against him under Section 302, 379, 436 and 461 of the IPC.

The court has awarded life imprisonment to Das under Section 302 of the IPC. It also slapped a penalty of Rs 25,000 on the convict. Non-payment of the penalty amount will invite imprisonment for one more year.

Das was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and slapped with Rs 2,000 penalty under Section 379 of the IPC. The convict will undergo jail term for additional three months for non-payment of the penalty amount.

The court also sentenced Das to six years of imprisonment and imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on him under Section 436 of the IPC.

The court made it clear that the jail terms awarded to the convict under various Sections of the IPC will run concurrently.