Man Sentenced To Life Imprisonment For Murder Of Minor Boy For ‘Tantrik Practices’ In Odisha’s Jajpur

Jajpur: The Additional District and Sessions Court in Odisha’s Jajpur on Tuesday convicted a man for murder of a minor boy for tantrik practices and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Speaking about the case to media persons, Rajendra Prasad Nayak, additional public prosecutor, said Dipak Barik of Rajendrapur village under Kuakhia police station was convicted for murder of 8-year-old Abhisek Nayak on February 26, 2015.

On the fateful day, a community feast was organised by the family of a deceased villager as part of rituals. Abhisek along with his family members and Dipak also attended. The villagers had seen Abhisek and Dipak helping in serving the people. But after some time, both were not found.

In the evening, when Abhisek did not return home, his family searched for him at all possible places but failed to trace him. Dipak was also not present in his house. On being informed, police also searched in the nearby places, but could not find Abhisek.

Next morning, the body of Abhisek, a Class III student, was found floating in a pond near a Devi temple on the outskirts of the village. There was a garland around his neck and vermilion mark on forehead.

Police retrieved the body and sent it for post-mortem. Following the allegation of Abhisek’s parents that Dipak was involved in his murder as per tantrik rituals, police conducted a raid on his house and found some human bones and materials related to tantrik practices like books and other things from there. They also arrested Dipak.

The additional public prosecutor said earlier, Dipak used to tell the villagers that he would make human sacrifice as part of tantrik rituals to achieve wealth and prosperity.

The court announced its verdict on the basis of evidence and statements of 24 witnesses in the case. Besides sentencing Dipak to life imprisonment, the court announced 7 years of imprisonment for attempting to destroy the evidence. It also imposed a penalty of Rs 35,000 on him.