Vidyanand Rai and his brother Shivanand Rai of Chinnamasta Rural Municipality-1 Barahibirpur of Saptari were sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday for the murder of his sister-in-law. District Judge Hemant Rawal's bench sentenced the accused to life imprisonment eight years after the incident. The court said that both the accused are still absconding.
Eighteen judges of the Saptari District Court have already heard the case, which has been stalled for eight years. Although the motion was moved several times, the case could not be decided for the 61st time on the 16th of January. The District Court had ordered Shivanand to be released on bail of Rs 20,000 on 04 July 2018
and Vidyananda on 1 October 074 on bail of Rs 15,000. After the Rajviraj Bench of Janakpur High Court upheld the order on 7th June, Bechan, the son of the deceased, filed a petition in the Supreme Court on 20th July 2019 against the order.
The Supreme Court overturned the subordinate courts' orders and ordered both the accused to be remanded in custody on the 5th of June 2021. A 66-year-old woman named Rajeshwaridevi Rai died on Chait 19, 2015 due to the beating of a stick and an iron rod when the dispute escalated after she brought the branches of the sisau tree home for sale. Bechan's son had filed a charge sheet at the district police office on the same day of the incident on 14 May 2016.
Bechan, who was suffering financial loss and mental stress due to the unnatural delay, expressed his satisfaction with the decision. The other accused are Sivananda's wife Manjudevi Rai, Vidyananda's wife Vindudevi Rai, his son Chandan Kumar Rai, younger brother-in-law Kamanand Rai and his wife Renudevi Rai have been acquitted.
READ ALSO:
