Orissa High Court commutes death sentence of 9 to life in sorcery-linked triple murder case

The Orissa High Court has commuted the death sentences of nine individuals to life imprisonment in connection with the 2016 murder of three family members in Rayagada district, over suspicions of sorcery.

The Rayagada District and Sessions Court had initially sentenced the nine individuals to death in October 2021 for the brutal killings. The convicts appealed the verdict to the High Court, which reserved its judgment before delivering the ruling today, reducing the death penalty to life imprisonment.

The crime occurred in Kitum village, where the nine accused believed that Asina Sabara, his wife Ambai, and their daughter Asimani were responsible for the spread of local diseases and accused them of practising sorcery. In September 2016, the three family members were abducted, beaten, and subjected to horrific torture, including the injection of pesticides into their eyes and private parts. The attackers then buried their bodies, later exhuming and burning them to destroy evidence after learning the police were alerted.

The convicted individuals—Degunu Sabara, Dasantu Sabara, Dalasa Sabara, Ajanta Sabara, Podantu Sabara, Iru Sabara, Lakia Sabara, Bubuna Sabara, and Maliku Sabara—had been charged with the triple murder, and the High Court ruling has now spared them from the death penalty.