Angul: A POCSO special court in Odisha’s Angul on Friday sentenced a 40-year-old man to death for the brutal rape and murder of a girl aged just 4 years and 10 months.
Additional District-cum-Special POCSO Court Judge found Babula Jena, a resident of Dehury Sahi in Jereng village in the district, guilty beyond reasonable doubt based on DNA findings, forensic analysis, and other corroborative evidence presented during the trial. He was convicted under Sections 137(2), 103(1), 65(2), and 238(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
The crime took place on March 13, 2025, when the victim, a resident of Pidhakhaman under Industrial police limits in Angul, went missing while playing outside her home. When family members and neighbours failed to locate the girl after a frantic search, her father, Ranjan Soy, filed a missing persons report at Industrial police station the following day. On March 15, 2025, the child’s body was found under a Mahua tree near her residence. The postmortem revealed that she died from compression of the neck and had suffered forcible penetrative sexual assault.
Police immediately swung into action and identified and arrested Jena two days later. The investigators also conducted detailed spot examinations at three crime scenes, collected scientific and forensic evidence, recorded witness statements, obtained DNA samples, secured the accused’s confessional statement, and recovered incriminating articles. All exhibits were promptly sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar. The District Legal Services Authority was also immediately informed to provide compensation to the victim’s family.
The Angul Police reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy towards crimes against women and children and commitment to ensuring speedy justice in every such case.
