The Orissa High Court has upheld life imprisonment awarded to six convicts by a lower Court in the Kendrapara district around 27 years ago for committing broad daylight murder of two neighbours for failure on their part to repay a paltry Rs 1,000 loan.
While nine persons from Indupur village had tied two fellow villagers with ropes and assaulted them with crowbar, spear, and sharp weapons during morning hours on 19 June 1996. While one of them died on the way to hospital, the other victim later died during hospitalization. The fault of the deceased was that they failed to repay Rs 1,000 borrowed from the accused persons.
The case in hand depicts a painful and distressing event of double murder committed in front of the relatives on the village street just in connection with non-payment of paltry loan amount of Rs.1,000,.
The Division Bench of the High Court, quoting Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, emphasized the potential negative consequences of both lending and borrowing money, particularly in the context of relationships in the 64-page judgment.
The Additional Sessions Judge, Kendrapara had found them guilty of committing the horrifying crime and sentenced them to under life imprisonment on 22 September.
After leading a prisoner’s life of 12 years in jail, the convicts were released on bail on 18 March 2010. Later, they approached the High Court for revision of the sentence awarded them by the lower court. However, during the course of trial, three of the convicts expired.
“Their bail bonds and surety bonds stand cancelled. They (the convicts) shall surrender before the trial Court within fifteen days from today to serve out the sentence awarded by the trial Court which is confirmed by us, failing which, the trial Court shall take appropriate steps for their arrest and send them to judicial custody,” the division bench ordered in the judgment.