The Orissa High Court has upheld the life imprisonment of six men for a brutal double murder in Indupur village, Kendrapara, stemming from a dispute over a small loan of Rs. 1,000. The judgment relates to an appeal against the 1998 conviction by the Additional Sessions Judge, Kendrapara, in a case that shocked the community for its sheer violence over a petty amount.
According to court records, deceased Sankarsan Sethy and Babuli Sethy were lured from their home on June 19, 1996, under the pretext of loan repayment. On the village road, the accused - armed with deadly weapons including bhujalis, crowbars, spears, and lathis - surrounded the victims, tied them with ropes, and attacked them mercilessly. Multiple fatal injuries were inflicted, and Babuli died en route to the hospital, while Sankarsan succumbed shortly after admission.
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Justice S.K. Sahoo noted,
"The manner in which the accused, armed with weapons, lured the victims and assaulted them establishes their common intention and unlawful assembly."
The Court rejected the defence’s claim that the deaths resulted from a drunken fight between the victims, citing consistent eyewitness accounts and corroborating medical evidence.
The appeal challenged the credibility of related eyewitnesses, alleged delay in FIR dispatch, and inconsistencies with medical findings. However, the Court held that relationship alone does not discredit testimony, stressing,
"Quality of evidence, not quantity, is material. Related witnesses are often the most natural observers of village incidents."
The judges concluded that minor contradictions did not weaken the core prosecution case. The convictions under Sections 302/34 and 302/149 IPC, along with life sentences and fines of Rs. 5,000 each, were upheld.
Case Title:- Chandia @ Chandi Sethy & Others vs. State of Odisha
Case No.:- JCRLA No. 248 of 1998
