Bhubaneswar, Sept. 9: A local court in Bhubaneswar today sentenced two brothers to life after convicting them in a case of honour killing. The duo had burnt alive their 20-year-old niece after assaulting her while she was trying to elope with her lover, who belonged to a lower caste.

Though the incident had taken place in May 2007, it had come to light one year later after the sister of the deceased told the media about it.

The fast track court II judge, A.P. Sahu, today held the accused — Ranjan Pati and Sukant Pati — guilty and handed them life terms.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on each of them under sections 302/34 (murder and involvement of more then one person with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In the event of failing to pay the penalty, they will have to undergo another year of rigorous imprisonment.

The judge also sentenced them to 10 years imprisonment each with a fine of Rs 2,000 each under sections 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the IPC.

The Pati brothers had set their niece, Anusuya Pati, on fire in a thatched room beside their pucca house in the village Bari Basudeipur, which falls within Balianta police station limits, on the city outskirts on the night of May 16, 2007.

They had beaten her brutally after she was caught while on the way to meet her lover.

Giving details of the incident, public prosecutor Pradip Kumar Das said that after the girl became unconscious her uncles took her body to a thatched house, which was used for cooking and prayer, and set it on fire. The next day they lodged a complaint with Balianta police saying that the girl was charred to death while trying to retrieve household articles from the burning house. Subsequently the police registered a case of unnatural death and closed the matter.

In August 2008, the deceased’s sister Janaki Pati told the media that her sister had been murdered by her uncles. Based on her statement, the police registered a case on August 8 that year and began investigation. They arrested the Pati brothers the next day.

Das said that during the trial that went on for nearly three years, 29 witnesses had testified in court. “The victim’s sister, Janaki, was the only eyewitness and her statement proved crucial,” said Das.

He said that filing of the FIR for murder was delayed by nearly a year as the eyewitness was scared. Both the victim and her sister were staying with their uncles at the time.

The defence counsel, Siddarth Das, said that he would move the high court challenging the verdict.