Bhubaneswar, April 26: The Rayagada district sessions judge and special sessions court today sentenced former school sub-inspector Netrananda Dandasena to life term in schoolteacher Itishree Pradhan's murder case.

The 28-year-old sikshya sahayak (a non-formal teacher) at the Upper Primary School at Tikiri, was a victim of sexual harassment and had been set afire on the school premises on October 27, 2013. A few days later she died at a private hospital in Visakhapatnam on November 1.

The incident had shocked the state with allegations that police had made efforts to protect higher-ups.

The case was initially probed by the state crime branch and then taken over by the CBI.

In 2015, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the case acting on a petition filed by Sudipta Lenka, a Bengaluru-based law graduate and had asked the CBI to nab the culprit who had poured kerosene on the victim while she was asleep and then set her on fire.

The CBI is probing the case and is yet to arrest the unidentified person who had set the schoolteacher on fire. The agency has announced a cash award of Rs 2 lakh for information about the person.

It was alleged that the deceased had approached officials, including the director-general of police and the district collector, after the sub-inspector of schools sexually harassed her. Ever since she lodged the complaint, she was under pressure not to pursue the charges. Later, an attempt was made to kill her. The police did not pursue the case with seriousness.

Following the uproar, the state government had suspended Dandasena, deputy-inspector of schools Dharanidhar Pradhan, inspector in charge of Tikri police station Sujit Kumari Rai and an assistant sub-inspector Muralidhar Pradhan.

The state government had announced ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the deceased's family.

The issue had snowballed into a political controversy with the Opposition accusing Jairam Pangi, the then Lok Sabha member from Koraput, of protecting Dandasena. The BJD subsequently denied a party ticket to Pangi in the 2014 general elections.

After the sentence was delivered today, Itishree's mother Banajalata Pradhan demanded capital punishment for Dandasena.

"He took the life of my daughter. He has no right to live in the society," she said.

While Dandasena, 54, said he was innocent and had been framed by those with vested interests, his advocate Bishnu Prasad Panda said they would challenge the judgment in a higher court.

He said: "We will appeal against the sentence. As the main accused has not yet been arrested, it is wrong to pronounce my client as culprit at this juncture."

Special DG (crime branch) B.K. Sharma said: "In our investigation, we had found Dandasena the lone accused in the case. He was found guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy. Accordingly, we had submitted our charge-sheet and the court has pronounced its judgment."

Sharma said the four dying declarations of the victim, which were also videographed, were major evidence in the case.

"During the trial, as many as 36 witnesses were examined. The investigation revealed that that Dandasena had put pressure on Itishree to withdraw the case against him. As Itishree did not agree, he had used an associate to eliminate her," he said.

The judgment has come as a major relief for Pangi, one of the most influential BJD leaders of the region.

"My name was unnecessarily dragged into this. I am happy that the accused has been punished by the court," Pangi told The Telegraph.