Bhubaneswar, Nov 26: A local court in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj on Monday sentenced three persons to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life by holding them guilty of killing a 13-year-old minor after sexually abusing her in March 2017.

The convicts were identified as Chakradhara Nayak,51, his wife Anima Bal,47, of Balasore district and Chintamani Biswal,75, of Keonjhar district.

As per reports, the victim was engaged as a housemaid by the convict Chakradhara and Anima at their house in the Mayurbhanj district. The convict Chintamani who was working as a caretaker at the couple's residence sexually abused and subsequently killed her.

On March 26, 2017, after the incident came to the notice of Chakradhar and Anima, the couple set the body on fire to conceal the crime by destroying all evidence in this regard. 

The police recovered the charred body of the victim and sent it for post-mortem by registering an unnatural death case.

However, the autopsy report later found the victim was sexually abused before the murder. 

Based on the complaint lodged by the victim's father, police later registered a criminal case on April 29, 2017, and arrested the accused on the charges of rape, murder, destruction of evidence etc. 

The court after examining the statements of witnesses and other exhibits pronounced the judgement on Monday. The court has also directed the District Legal Services Authority to give financial compensation of Rs 4 lakhs to the family members of the deceased. 

In another significant development, the District and Sessions court in Ganjam on Monday awarded life imprisonment to six persons for killing a person in Baliguda of Kandhamal district in 2019.

The victim was shot to death by the convicts over a dispute over the properties belonging to a Jagannath Temple at Baliguda. 

The court on the basis of the statements of witnesses and other exhibits on Monday declared the punishment.

--IANS

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