Balasore: In a landmark verdict, a special court in Odisha’s Balasore on Friday sentenced a 35-year-old to death for the brutal acid attack on his wife that led to her death around three years ago.
The court awarded death penalty while convicting Chandan Rana under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Sections 326A and 326B (acid attack-related offences) and other relevant provisions.
Describing the crime as heinous, pre-planned, and driven by vengeance, the judge ruled that the offence fell within the “rarest of rare” category, warranting capital punishment.
As per case record, the incident took place on February 20, 2023. Rana, then a 32-year-old artificial jewellery hawker, threw acid on his second wife, Banita Singh (20) at her parental house in Bhimpura village of Balasore district.
The attack had followed a domestic dispute after Banita discovered that Rana was already married and had children from his first marriage. After confronting him over the deception, she had left their home and returned to her parents’ house–where the fatal assault took place.
