A court in Odisha on Monday awarded the death sentence to five people in connection with the gang-rape and murder of a minor girl in Keonhjar district in 2012.
The Champua additional district and sessions court awarded capital punishment to Mata Munda, Mangal Prusty, Jiten Munda, Harjit Singh and Biswanath Munda.
While five of the accused were awarded death sentence, two others accused in the case are yet to be apprehended.
The incident occurred in Belakundi village in August 2012.
The deceased, a Class 8 student in Barbil, was gang-raped and later murdered while she was going for tuition. As she did not return home, her family members launched a search and found her body.
Defence lawyer Anadi Giri said his clients would appeal the matter in the higher court to get justice while public prosecutor Madhusudan Shakti hailed the judgment.
