Orissa High Court acquits man convicted for homicide

By Express News Service

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday acquitted a person, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Additional Sessions Judge of Patnagarh for killing an 18-year-old woman. Both the accused, Bhikari Behera and the woman belonged to Bagiharan village inside Khaparakhol police limits of Balangir district. The woman was discovered lacking on August 22, 2015. Her physique was present in a putrefied situation three days later at a kendu leaf godown in close by Dudungdarha village. 

On July 7, 2018, the Additional Sessions Judge of Patnagarh had convicted Bhikari upon discovering that the woman had insisted on marrying him after she was impregnated by him. While Bhikari had tried to persuade her to abort the being pregnant, the woman refused. Then Bhikari took her to the kendu leaf godown, gave her a toxic injection, and to take away any proof of homicide set her on fireplace which resulted in her loss of life.

Bhikari had filed a legal enchantment within the High Court difficult the trial court docket’s conviction and life imprisonment sentence. While permitting the legal enchantment on Wednesday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray noticed: “In the instant case, as seen from the materials brought by prosecution, not a single circumstance is found established against the appellant to point towards his guilt. The trial judge without any evidence has erroneously concluded that the case of prosecution regarding involvement of the appellant has been proved beyond all reasonable doubt and the motive against him has also been proved”.

The bench dominated, “In the result it is held that the prosecution has failed to establish the charges against the accused (convict) and thus, the impugned judgment of conviction and sentence of the trial court is set aside. The circumstance that the appellant was a quack by profession and used to visit her house frequently cannot be considered as a relevant circumstance against the appellant for commission of offence. The appellant is acquitted of the charges and he be set at liberty forthwith, in case his detention is not warranted in any other case.”