The Orissa High Court, while questioning the adequacy of life sentence awarded by the lower court to three persons for perpetrating barbaric double murder on witchcraft suspicion, has sought the enhancement of conviction to a higher degree.

The Additional Sessions Judge, Keonjhar in a judgment pronounced on 31 August, 2020 had sentenced Basanta Dehury, Mitu Mallik and Goutam Penthei to life imprisonment for brutally murdering Rajendra Dehury and Jemamani on the suspicion that they were witchcraft practitioners. Nine others who face trial were however acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The accused persons had beheaded Dehury and Jemamani in 2015, carried their heads for some distance and threw those on the road in a village under Nayakote police station jurisdiction of Keonjhar district.

These accused persons with nine others faced the trial for commission of the offence under Section 302/450 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Trial Court, has found only these three accused persons guilty of the offence under Section 302/450 read with Section 34 of the IPC whereas other nine accused persons, who were facing the trial, were acquitted of those charges.

“Therefore, with the obtained evidence, despite the fact that the State has not preferred any Appeal for enhancement of the sentence for considering the adequacy of the sentence, in exercise of the revisional power under Section 397 read with Section 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, we propose to issue notice to these accused persons to have their say on the adequacy of sentence and as to why they should not be visited with the sentence of higher degree,” a division bench of Justice D Dash and Justice Sashikanta Mishra stated in the judgment.

Why the sentence, as has been imposed by the Trial Court upon the accused persons, shall not be enhanced. We, also as a measure of abandon caution direct the Registry to immediately send the notice to the Superintendent, District Jail, Keonjhar to be served upon the accused persons as to why the sentence imposed by the Trial Court upon them shall not be enhanced as being not adequate and commensurate the crime committed by them, the Division Bench concluded.