INDIA: NINE GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER OF 3 MEMBERS OF FAMILY IN RAYAGADA

October 23, 2021:

Nine persons on 21 October 2021 were awarded death sentence in Odisha by the Rayagada district and sessions court for the murder of three members of a family in Kitum village in 2016 on the suspicion of practising witchcraft.
Public prosecutor Krishna Chandra Senapati said the Gunupur additional district and sessions court had sentenced the nine accused persons to death in 2018, but the convicted had appealed in the high court following which it had asked the district court to reconsider the case.
"After hearing the arguments, the district court found the nine accused guilty and sentenced them to death," Senapati said. The incident had taken place on 9 September 2016.
Senapati said Asina Sabara, his wife Ambai and daughter Asimani were dragged out of their house and taken to a cowshed where they were assaulted by the nine accused. After the three had fallen unconscious, they were buried. Later, the accused had exhumed the bodies and set them on fire out of the fear of being caught, he added.
However, the minor daughter of the couple had managed to file a complaint with the Putasingh police station on 16 September.