Odisha: Man gets death sentence for rape-murder of 8-year-old girl

Sambalpur: A POCSO court in Odisha’s Sambalpur district on Tuesday pronounced death sentence to a man for the rape-murder of an 8-year-old girl in 2022.

POCSO court judge Abhilash Senapati convicted Prasanta Baghar, hailing from a village under the Jamankira Police Station limits in the district, special prosecutor Santosh Panda said.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on March 25, 2022, when the deceased girl had gone to a field in her village to relieve herself and the man forcibly took her away from there and committed the crime.

Later, he beheaded the girl with an axe and returned to the village with the severed head, the prosecutor said.

Prasanta’s wife confronted him for the heinous crime, which led to a scuffle between them.

Subsequently, the police reached the spot and apprehended the man.

The girl's father lodged a complaint with the police station and an investigation was launched.

During the trial, the court examined 25 witnesses and found the accused guilty of the offences, the prosecutor said.

In view of the circumstances of the case, the court ordered the convict to be hanged to death beside a penalty of Rs 1 lakh, Panda said.

“A 50-page charge sheet was filed in connection with this case. The judgment will now be moved to the high court as per the usual course of action. The high court will decide whether to uphold the death sentence after examining the case records and appeals,” he added.