Six persons were sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment by a court for killing a tribal man and his daughter in Sambalpur district about nine years ago.
Additional District Judge of Kuchinda, Padma Charan Das, on Tuesday convicted lalit Topno, Methail Hembrum, Gaji Kujur, Ranjit Bag, Rajendra Bahala and Salim Kisan and awarded life term to them.
According to the prosecution, the incident had taken place at Ragba village under the Govindpur police station on September 1, 2004.
The accused had killed Bhimcent Hembrum and his daughter Berunica suspecting the duo were causing harm to others by practising black magic.
They killed Bhimcent with a sharp-edged weapon and threw the body away after setting it on fire. They subsequently strangulated his daughter. They took the body of the girl to the Sunakhandi forest area under the Rajgangpur police station and set it on fire.