The Orissa High Court today quashed the death penalty awarded to a man charged with rape and murder of a minor girl in Jharsuguda district.
Minaketan Seth, was acquitted by the two-member bench comprising Justice Pradeep Kumar Mohanty and Justice Debabrata Dash for lack of evidence, said his counsel B K Ragad.
Ragad said the high court ordered the release of Seth due to absence of any eye witness and added that circumstantial evidences were not enough to award death penalty to Seth.
The fast-track additional sessions judge court at Jharsuguda on March 22, 2013 awarded the death sentence to Seth for raping and murdering the 14-year-old girl at Rengali in Jharsuguda.
According to the prosecution, on October 9, 2009, Seth raped and murdered the victim at Kandheikela village. The girl was returning home after giving food to her father in the paddy field when the alleged incident occurred.
Meanwhile, the victim's family said they would take the matter to the Supreme Court as the accused had confessed to the crime before villagers.
