A local court in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district exonerated a person from a murder case after he underwent close to 19 years of imprisonment.
Habil Siddhu was around 40 when he was convicted and imprisoned in murder of three persons, including a child in 2003. Now 59, Siddhu has been exonerated due to lack of concrete evidence to prove his culpability.
Siddhu hails from Balarampur village under the Jashipur police station. However, he used to live in his father-in-law’s village at Kudumutu.
Two locals, Jamadar Pingua and Tunaram Purty of Kudumutu, were suspecting Siddhu of practising sorcery. So he was harbouring anger against the two.
On January 1, 2003, Pingua, his two-year-old daughter, and Purty had gone missing. Two days later on January 3, bodies of the three were traced to the Khairi river bank near Jashipur.
Siddhu was said to have disclosed his involvement in the crime before a home guard who later alerted the Jashipur police station. On January 4, Siddhu was produced in court. In 2005, he was convicted and awarded life imprisonment by a fast track court.
The man filed an appeal against the verdict from jail. His case came up for hearing in 2021. The Orissa High Court ordered a retrial by the District and Sessions Judge, Mayurbhanj. The High Court also directed that a senior counsel be appointed to help Siddhu defend his case. Accordingly, Asit Otta was appointed amicus curiae .
“About 11 witnesses deposed in the case. However, the case was based on extra-judicial confession. The investigating officer tried to build a chain of circumstances, but could not find witness to prove the confession. Based on deposition by 11 witnesses, the court acquitted Siddhu,” said Mr. Otta.
