Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday set aside the conviction and death penalty pronounced by a POCSO (protection of children from sexual offences) court to a man in connection with rape and murder of a minor girl that had taken place in Angul district in 2019.
The High Court has also directed the trial court to review its order in the case.
It is worth mentioning that the POCSO court in Angul had awarded death penalty to a 20-year-old man for rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in 2019.
Anama Dehury, a resident of Kangula village had been convicted in the court of law for committing the ghastly crime.
The POCSO court had sentenced the death penalty after examining 36 witnesses and evidence, a Special Public Prosecutor had said.
The tragic incident had taken place in January, 2019 when the girl was going to her farm to meet his father who was working there. Dehury had forcibly lifted her to a nearby forest and raped her, he had said.
He later killed the girl as he was afraid of getting caught, he added.
The police had arrested the accused from Kolkata after tracking his mobile phone and had subsequently filed a charge sheet in the court within a month of the incident.