Keonjhar: District sessions judge Ashok Kumar Panda Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment after convicting him of killing his wife brutally. The convict was identified as Dilip Bentkar, 44, of Gopinathpur Sahi in Raisuan under Sadar block and the deceased as Sabita Bentkar, 38, his wife. The court has also slapped a penalty of Rs 5,000 on him, apart from the punishment. In case of defaulting on payment of penalty, the convict has to undergo an additional one month of rigorous imprisonment, the judge observed while delivering the order. The court also directed the district legal services authority (DLSA) to provide financial assistance to the three children who have been abandoned and orphaned after the death of their mother while their father was in jail, public prosecutor Pradeep Kumar Das said.
The judged pronounced the order after examining the statements of 11 witnesses, three eye-witnesses and the final chargesheet submitted by the police in the case, the public prosecutor said. According to the case diary, the incident occurred when Dilip Bentkar beat up his wife Sabita Bentkar following a heated argument over a domestic dispute January 6, 2021 evening. Enraged, Dilip killed Sabita by hitting her head with a brick near the puja mandap in the village. On receiving a complaint from the deceased’s brother Madhusudan Bentkar, police registered a murder case and arrested Dilip, who was then lodged in Keonjhar district jail.