Balasore, April 20: A special court in Balasore awarded life imprisonment to a couple on Friday for allegedly killing their 14-year-old physically-challenged son in 2022.
The convicts Ganesh Jena (45) and his second wife Pratima Jena (36) were also slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 each and an additional jail term of six months if fail to pay the penalty.
According to police, the couple was arrested for killing the child on August 4, 2022 and throwing his body in a pond.
The incident came to light when the grandparents of the victim, who lived in a separate rented house, lodged a complaint at Sahadevkhunta police station on August 5, 2022 that their grandson was missing.
The deceased was staying with his father and stepmother, near his grandparent's house.
During investigation police suspected some foul play and took the accused couple into custody. The couple admitted to the crime during questioning and said they commited the murder as the minor boy was unable to take care of himself and was dependent on them.
Sahadevkhunta police had registered cases against the couple under section 302 of the IPC. Following a thorough examination of 16 witnesses and 16 documents, the sentence was pronounced to the couple, said public prosecutor Pranab Kumar Panda.
