CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has fixed April 17 to consider an increase of the life sentence of three persons convicted by the trial court for killing a man and his wife at Banspal under Nayakote police station limits in Keonjhar district in 2014.
The three convicts - Basanta Dehury, Mitu Mallik and Goutam Penthei - had entered the house of Rajendra Dehury, dragged him and his wife Jemamani to the courtyard, beheaded them, carried their heads for some distance and threw those on the road on October 9, 2014.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge, Keonjhar, convicted all three and sentenced them to life imprisonment, while acquitting nine other accused in the case on August 21, 2020. They had filed appeals in the HC challenging their conviction.
On Monday the HC upheld their conviction by the trial court but felt a life sentence was inadequate in the case. The division bench of Justice Debabrata Dash and Justice Sashikanta Mishra said, “At this juncture, after having held these accused persons guilty of intentionally causing the death of Rajendra and Jemamani by committing house trespass, in addressing the adequacy of the sentence, when we again turn our attention to the obtained evidence as regards the way and manner in which the occurrence took place as well as all the circumstances have emerged and the part played by these accused persons therein; we are not able to bring ourselves to a position to straight away take a view that the imposed sentence may be adequate.”
The bench, accordingly issued notice to the counsel of the three convicts to make his submission as to why the sentence, as has been imposed by the trial court upon them shall not be enhanced. The court also directed the Registry to immediately send the notice to the superintendent, District Jail, Keonjhar to be served upon the accused persons as to why the sentence imposed by the trial court upon them shall not be enhanced as being not adequate and commensurate to the crime committed by them.