Life term for two for killing woman, minor sons for practising witchcraft

A court in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district sentenced two men to life imprisonment on Monday for killing a woman and her two minor sons over three years ago on the suspicion of their being involved in witchcraft. Rairangpur additional district and sessions judge A R Pattnaik also slapped a fine of Rs 10000 on each of the two convicted.

A court in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district sentenced two men to life imprisonment on Monday for killing a woman and her two minor sons over three years ago on the suspicion of their being involved in witchcraft. Rairangpur additional district and sessions judge A R Pattnaik also slapped a fine of Rs 10000 on each of the two convicted. Failure to pay the penalty would keep them behind the bars for an additional six months.

The two - Arjun Sinku (27) and Gurucharan Karua (22) had killed Rinki Sinku (35) and her two minor sons Jagannath (10) and Jasamanta (3) with sharp weapons on July 18, 2017 in Jhipabandh village in the district as they suspected that she practised witchcraft. The two were subsequently arrested by the police and booked under Section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code.

The ADJ held the two guilty on the basis of eyewitness accounts and statements of villagers..