Bhubaneswar: A special Children’s Court in Nayagarh on Tuesday sentenced 20 years rigorous imprisonment to the prime accused in the much sensational Pari rape and murder case of Nayagarh.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 on convict Saroj Sethi, failing which he would undergo one year more imprisonment.
As there were no direct evidence or eyewitnesses in the case, the court examined the scientific and electronic evidence thoroughly and pronounced the judgment, said Chittaranjan Kanungo, Government lawyer.
“The SIT headed by then IG of police Arun Bothra had gathered many scientific and electronic evidence as there was no direct evidence in the case. Based on all the evidence, the Crime Branch had filed the charge sheet. During the trial, we examined 31 witnesses in the court. We had furnished 135 exhibits and 18 material objects used in the offence to the court,” Kanungo added.
“Based on all the evidence and statements of witnesses, the special Children’s Court, Nayagarh found the accused guilty and punished him accordingly under section 6 of POCSO Act and section 376 of IPC by sentencing him to 20 years rigorous imprisonment. (RI),”he added.
“Had he been a major, he would have got capital punishment,” he said.
On the other hand, Defence lawyer Chandra Bijayee Mishra expressed dissatisfaction over the judgment and announced to challenge the verdict in High Court.
“We are not happy with the judgment. We will move the High Court against such judgment. Because the prosecution party failed to prove the allegations. Neither the confession under section 24 of the Evidence Act nor section 27 under the Evidence Act (leading to discovery) was proved. The motive of the crime could not be also proved. We can say that the judgment was pronounced based on a tale prepared by the prosecution,” Mishra added.
“Moreover, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 has not been properly followed. As per the Act, a CWPO (Child Welfare Police Officer) or a member of a special juvenile police unit usually prepares the investigation report. There was no such officer in the SIT that probed the case. So, the charge sheet filed by the SIT should not be acceptable as per law,” he explained.
It is pertinent to mention that Pari, a five-year-old, minor girl had gone missing on July 14, 2020 while playing outside her house in Jadupur village, Nayagarh. Ten days later, on July 23, 2020, the minor girl’s skeletal remains were found concealed under the bushes near a pond on the backside of the house of accused. Nayagarh District Police initially investigated the case. The case was then handed over to Crime Branch. CID CB took charge of the investigation by the order of the Govt. on 25.11.2020 vide CID CB PS Case No. 14/2020 U/s 363, 364,302,201 of IPC.
Eventually, an SIT was constituted by the Govt. of Odisha under leadership of Sh. Arun Bothra, the then IGP, CID-Crime Branch to investigate the case vide Home Deptt vide letter No. 2373/C dt. 28.11.2020. The SIT submitted status reports before the Hon’ble High court on 15.12.2020, 23.12.2020 and 11.01.2021 and the Hon’ble High Court vide order dated 12.01.2021 made an observation that good progress was made by the SIT.
