Mother and step-father awarded RI for killing girl child

The mother and the step- father of a two-and-half-year-old girl child, who broke her limbs and buried her alive in a temporary island in a river, were awarded ten years rigorous imprisonment by a local court today.
Jhargram 1 Additional District Sessions judge Bivash Ranjan Ray passed the order and slapped a fine of Rs 5000 on each of them, failing which they would undergo two more years in prison.
The girl child Sharmila had been critically injured and buried alive by her mother Lakhi Munda (34) and her step-father Sheikh Rafikul (42) at a 'char' (a temporary island formed after river water level goes down) at Beliabera on Subarnarekha river in West Midnapore district in February 2013.

The child was rescued by fishermen who heard her cries for help the next day and rushed to hospital. She was then transferred to NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata where she died a week later.
The police had registered a case and traced Lakhi and Rafikul in September 2013.
Lakhi had fallen out with her first husband who worked in Jharkhand. She had left behind her elder daughter with her husband and settled at Beliabera with younger daughter Sharmila.
The woman had found employemnt at a brick kiln at Beliabera where she met Rafikul and the two married. However, trouble started when Rafikul's family, which believed that Lakhi was childless, decided to visit the couple.

The two then decided to kill the child.