Couple gets life term for killing pregnant daughter

 Jajpur: A Fast Track Special Court in Jajpur on Saturday awarded life sentence to a couple for killing their pregnant minor daughter about nine years back. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the convicts. The judgment was pronounced on the strength of three witnesses and evidence. The accused parents, Nakul Jena and Sanju Jena, were found guilty of killing their 15- year-old daughter after finding out her pregnancy from a relationship that was not acceptable to the family. The incident had taken place in Lakshmi Narayanpur under Binjharpur police limits in Jajpur district in 2016. Nakul was arrested after a woman from his village had reached out to the police and filed a complaint in connection with the incident. He had confessed to the murder during his interrogation.

Investigation had revealed that the victim, Ranu, a Class X student in a local high school, was in a relationship with a married man of her village and was in constant touch with him despite stringent opposition from her parents. When she did not pay heed to their disapproval of her affair, her father Nakul decided to kill her. He strangulated the minor daughter to death while she was sleeping. The following day, the victim’s family members discreetly cremated her body and threw her charred remains into a nearby river, as per case record. Later, investigation had established the complicity of Nakul’s wife Sanju in the crime.