Rayagada Death Sentence Reduced

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has commuted the death sentence of nine individuals to life imprisonment in a gruesome 2016 triple murder case from Kitum village, Rayagada district. The convicts had been found guilty of murdering three members of a family on suspicion of practising sorcery.
The Rayagada District and Sessions Court had sentenced the nine accused to death in October 2021 for the brutal killings. However, they appealed to the High Court, challenging the verdict. After reserving its judgment, the High Court today delivered its ruling, reducing the death penalty to life imprisonment.
The incident, which shocked the state, occurred on September 9, 2016. The victims, identified as Asina Sabara, his wife Ambai Sabara, and their daughter Asimani Sabara, were accused of spreading diseases in the locality through sorcery. On the fateful day, the family was forcibly dragged from their home to a cowshed by the nine perpetrators, where they were brutally assaulted.
As the victims lost consciousness, the attackers inflicted further cruelty by injecting pesticides into their eyes and private parts before burying their bodies. In an attempt to destroy evidence after learning that police had been informed, the convicts exhumed the bodies at night and set them on fire.
The convicts—Degunu Sabara, Dasantu Sabara, Dalasa Sabara, Ajanta Sabara, Podantu Sabara, Iru Sabara, Lakia Sabara, Bubuna Sabara, and Maliku Sabara—were found guilty of murder, conspiracy, and evidence destruction by the lower court.
The High Court’s decision to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment has drawn varied reactions, with some welcoming the ruling as a humane alternative while others continue to demand stricter penalties for such heinous crimes.