Berhampur: The District and Sessions Court-I here Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment after convicting him of murdering his wife two years ago. District judge-I Indu Sharma also slapped a penalty of Rs 11,000 on the convict while ordering an additional nine months of rigorous imprisonment (RI) in case of non-payment of penalty, said additional public prosecutor Soubhagya Kumar Mishra.
According to the case diary, the convict identified as Hiranya Sethi, 47, a resident of Chaitanyapur had tied nuptial knot with Jhunu Sethi of Padmanabhapur village under Digapahandi police limits a few years ago and was also blessed with two daughters.
However, their conjugal life went through rough weather even as Jhunu complained that Hiranya had been torturing her, both physically and mentally. Rajendra Sethi, the brother of the deceased, had lodged a written complaint at Digapahandi police station alleging that Hiranya had killed his sister (Jhunu) by slitting her throat February 8, 2022. Acting on the complaint, a case (96/22) was registered with Digapahandi police who arrested Hiranya and sent him to court. Balabhadra Ganda, the then IIC of Digapahandi police station and the investigating officer of the case had submitted the chargesheet in the court. The judge pronounced the verdict after examining 17 witnesses and going through the police chargesheet. The convict who was lodged at Berhampur circle jail since his arrest was produced before the judge during the hearing.