Rayagada: The District and Session Court of Rayagada on Tuesday awarded a life term to prime accused and the then Inspector of Schools (SI) Netrananda Dandasena in the sensational Tikiri lady teacher murder case.
The court pronounced the much awaited verdict on basis of the charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch of Odisha Police. The hearing of the case ended on April 4.
Itishree Pradhan was set ablaze after pouring kerosene on her in the premises of the school, where she was staying in a room, on October 27, 2013. She succumbed to her injuries while undergoing treatment in Vizag on November 1, 2013.
The State government had ordered a crime branch probe into the death on November 2, 2013 following an uproar over the issue.
Born in Puri, Pradhan was working at the Tikiri upper primary school on a contractual basis for a monthly salary of Rs 4000. During her initial period of posting, she had found it difficult to live there. The then SI Dandasena had assured her of every help but had sought sexual favors which she had opposed strongly.
The lady teacher’s ordeal started after she lodged an FIR against Dandasena at Tikiri police station. She was pressurised relentlessly to withdraw the complaint.
Meanwhile, the CBI is investigating the lady teacher murder case following the Supreme Court’s directive to undertake the inquiry in January 2015 while hearing a PIL filed by Bangalore-based Odia law graduate Sudipta Lenka.