A local court in Odisha’s Jagatsingpur district on Monday sentenced the prime accused in an acid attack case and his accomplice to 14-years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 15,000 on them.
The victim of the acid attack, 29-year-old Pramodini Roul, expressed her happiness over the judgement but demanded more stringer punishment.
“Though I honour the court’s verdict. I will move to the high court urging it for stricter punishment. They deserve more stringent punishment,” Pramodini told reporters.
Pramodini became the victim of the acid attack when she refused the proposal of an army jawan Santosh Kumar Bedanta to marry her.
Following the rejection of marriage proposal, an infuriated Santosh had thrown acid on Pramodini’s face on April 18, 2009 when she was returning from her college to her house in Kanakpur village of Jagatsingpur district, about 80km from state’s capital Bhubaneswar.
She suffered 80 per cent burns and lost her vision. She was only 16-year-old then.
However, Santosh managed to escape with the help of his friend, another accused in the case, Biswajit Dalsinghray. Biswajit had helped Santosh to procure the acid and also arranged the motorcycle on which he escaped.
Pramodini remained in the ICU for nine months and spent another five years in hospital. Her face was disfigured. Following a surgery, she regained her vision to some extent. However, she continued her battle for justice.
What’s more interesting is that the case was closed in 2012 due to lack of evidence. However, the police again reopened the case with the permission of the court in 2017 following an appeal by the victim and some social activists.
Based on a non-bailable warrant, when police reached Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir to arrest Bedanta he fled away.
Later police arrested him from his hideout in Kolkata. The other accused, Biswajit, was also nabbed.
When the court pronounced the judgement, Praomodini’s husband Saroj Sahu was present in the courtroom. Pramodini tied the knot with her boy-friend Saroj on March 1, 2021.