CUTTACK: Orissa High Court will take up the case of the death penalty awarded in the Kangula minor girl rape and murder case on Thursday.
A 12-year-old girl was brutally killed after being raped at Kangula village in Angul district on January 19. There were massive protests in the district after the girl’s body was recovered from a canal at the roadside the next day.
Police had arrested Anam Dehury, a 22-year-old plumber, who lived in the same village, three days later from Kolkata and named him as the accused in the rape and murder case. A Government lawyer was appointed as his defence counsel after the Angul District Bar Association resolved that none of its members would represent the accused in the trial.
A charge-sheet was presented in court in a month and the case put through speedy trial mode. The hearing in the case was completed in a record four months.
On July 26, a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court awarded death sentence to Anam. Additional District and Sessions Judge Suresh Chandra Pradhan, who presided over the POCSO court, awarded the capital punishment while adjudging it as a rarest of rare case.
The death sentence was referred to the High Court for confirmation. Anam also filed a criminal appeal against the trial court judgment on August 20.
Both were listed for Wednesday by the division bench of Justice SK Mishra and Justice AK Mishra. But it was adjourned as the High Court was suspended after a full-court reference over the death of a member of the Bar.