The Gauhati High Court has commuted the death sentence awarded to Rintu Sarma in the 2021 murder of college student Nandita Saikia in Assam’s Dhemaji district, reducing the punishment to life imprisonment while upholding his conviction.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury delivered the judgment on Wednesday, modifying the sentence imposed earlier by the Dhemaji District and Sessions Court. While granting relief from capital punishment, the High Court maintained that Sarma’s conviction in the case would remain unchanged.
The case relates to the murder of Nandita Saikia, a student of Moridhal College, who was attacked on August 21, 2021. According to court records, Sarma, a Grade-IV employee of the college, assaulted Saikia with a machete after she reportedly rejected his marriage proposal.
The attack took place while the student was returning home with her father and a friend. She suffered severe injuries in the assault and was first taken to a local medical facility before being shifted to a hospital in Dibrugarh for advanced treatment. Despite medical efforts, she succumbed to her injuries five days later.
Following the investigation, the Dhemaji District and Sessions Court convicted Sarma and awarded him the death penalty, describing the crime as a heinous offence. Sarma subsequently challenged the verdict before the Gauhati High Court, seeking commutation of the sentence.
After hearing the appeal, the High Court upheld the findings of the trial court regarding Sarma’s guilt but modified the quantum of punishment, replacing the death sentence with life imprisonment.
