A former college principal in the eastern Indian state of Odisha has been sentenced to life in prison for sending a parcel bomb that killed a newlywed man and his great aunt in 2018.
A court found Punjilal Meher, 56, guilty of murder, attempted murder, and use of explosives in what became known as the “wedding bomb” case that stunned India.
The bomb, disguised as a wedding gift, was delivered to the home of Soumya Sekhar Sahu, a 26-year-old software engineer, just days after his wedding.
When the couple opened the package, it exploded – killing Sahu and his great aunt, and leaving his wife, Reema, who opened the package, critically wounded. While acknowledging the prosecution’s argument that it was a “heinous” crime, the court declined to classify it as a “rarest of the rare” case deserving the death penalty.
The February 2018 explosion took place in Patnagarh, a quiet town in Odisha’s Bolangir district.
The victims had been married just five days and were preparing lunch when a parcel arrived at their home. It was addressed to Soumya and appeared to be a wedding gift, allegedly sent from Raipur in Chattisgarh state, over 230km (142 miles) away.
As Soumya pulled a thread on the parcel to open it, a powerful blast tore through the kitchen, killing him and his 85-year-old great-aunt Jemamani Sahu. Reema, then 22, survived with serious burns, a punctured eardrum, and trauma.
Credit: bbc.com
