Berhampur: A local court on Friday sentenced a man to life imprisonment in the kidnapping and murder case of a 7-year-old DAV Public School student, a case that shook the city in 2019.
Additional District and Sessions Judge-1 Naresh Mohanty convicted 40-year-old Debashish Panda of Jajpur district and imposed a fine of ₹16,000. The court also said he would have to serve an additional 13 months in jail if he defaulted. According to the prosecution, Panda befriended the victim’s mother through Facebook in 2018 and frequently visited her home in Sadananda Vihar, Berhampur. Investigators said he was infatuated with the woman and considered her son, Ashish Anshuman, an obstacle.
Panda allegedly took the Class 1 student to school on January 12, 2019, on the pretext of dropping him off, but later kidnapped and murdered him near the foothills of the Taratarini Temple. During the investigation, police recovered the child’s body, a blood-stained stone used in the crime, and the accused’s shirt.
The prosecution examined 26 witnesses during the trial. Panda, who was granted bail by the High Court last year, was returned to custody after his sentencing.
