JAJPUR: A Jajpur court on Saturday handed life sentence to a scrap shop owner charged with rape and murder of a five-year-old girl nine years back.
Additional district and sessions Judge of Jajpur Bijay Kumar Jena also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict Sheik Mohit. The court directed the district legal service authority to provide Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim’s mother.
The court examined the testimony of 25 witnesses before pronouncing the verdict.
According to the police, the incident took place in 2016 when the victim visited a scrap shop owned by Mohit near ferro chrome plant on Jajpur Road to sell some glass bottles. Finding her alone, Mohit sexually assaulted her and strangled her to death to destroy evidence. He then stuffed the body in a sack and dumped it on the railway track near Jajpur Road railway station.
Basing on the complaint filed by the deceased family, the Jajpur Road police investigated the case, arrested the accused and produced him in the local court.