Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Four years to the day the attack on Nandita Saikia took place, the Dhemaji District and Sessions Court today sentenced Rintu Sarma to death for the brutal murder of the college student.
Nandita Saikia was a student at Moridhal College. Rintu Sarma worked as a grade IV employee in the library of the same college.
Judge Ajay Faglu delivered the death sentence a day after Sarma was convicted for the murderous attack on Nandita with a machete near Dhemaji bus stand on August 21, 2021. The brutal attack had sent shockwaves across the state.
Expressing relief at the judgement, Nandita's father said, "We waited four years for this moment. I am satisfied with the court's decision. This should serve as an example so no one dares commit such an act again."
The advocate representing Nandita also expressed satisfaction over the verdict, stating that the quantum of punishment should be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime committed, as has been the case here.
On that fateful day, Nandita was returning home from college with her friend Kashmina Dutta and Kashmina's father, Deva Dutta, when a spurned Rintu Sarma attacked the trio with a machete near the Assam State Transport Corporation bus stand in the heart of Dhemaji town. Nandita was stabbed multiple times and sustained severe injuries, while the other two were also seriously injured. Initially admitted to a local hospital for treatment and later shifted to a nursing home in Dibrugarh, Nandita succumbed to her grievous injuries after four days, on August 25, 2021.
Kashmina Dutta said the ruling brought closure to the four-year-long ordeal. "I was with Nandita that day when we were attacked. My last memory of her will never fade. When we were in the ambulance, she said there is warm water in the flask and asked for some. Today we feel justice has finally been served," she said.
The case, registered at Dhemaji Police Station as Case No. 397/2021, saw a four-year-long trial in which as many as 41 witnesses deposed before the District and Sessions Court. Following the extensive hearings, the Court passed the sentence under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) - including Section 302 (punishment for murder), Section 307 (attempt to murder), and Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means).
The judge, in his order, observed that "this case certainly falls under the category of the rarest of rare and if life imprisonment is awarded, it would be insufficient and not meet the ends of justice''.
''Accordingly, the convict is sentenced to death for the offence of murder under Section 302 IPC and will be hanged by the neck till death'', the judge ordered.
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