Chhattisgarh agriculture officer gets life term in rape, caste‑bias case

Raipur special court sentences Devnarayan Sahu to life imprisonment in rape and SC/ST Atrocities case after he allegedly lured a Satnami woman with false marriage promise and later abused her on caste grounds.

A Chhattisgarh agriculture extension officer has been sentenced to life imprisonment in a rape case where the court also invoked the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, holding that he exploited a woman under the false promise of marriage and later insulted her on caste lines.

The accused, Devnarayan Sahu, a 30‑year‑old gram seva kendra (gramin krishi vikas adhikari) from Balod, was found guilty by a special court in Raipur on May 2, 2026, under the recently amended Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the SC/ST Atrocities Act. He was awarded rigorous life imprisonment along with a ₹6,000 fine, with additional ten‑year terms under other BNS sections to run concurrently.

How the relationship began

According to prosecution submissions before special judge Pankaj Kumar Sinha, Devnarayan Sahu belonged to Balod district while the complainant hailed from Bilaspur. The two first met as classmates at an agriculture college in Jagdalpur and later shifted to Raipur for coaching related to competitive exams.

The woman told the court that she initially resisted the relationship because their castes were different — she belonged to the Satnami community, a Scheduled Caste group — and she did not expect marriage. Sahu, however, repeatedly assured her that he would marry her once he secured a government job.

First assault and continued exploitation

The case documents state that in February 2021, the accused called her to a rented flat in Dharmapura, Raipur, claiming he needed to talk, and then had sexual relations with her after reiterating the promise of marriage. The prosecution argued that this first sexual act — which the woman described as coerced in view of the persistent promise of marriage — marked the beginning of a long‑running pattern of exploitation.

Between 2021 and 2024, the woman alleged that Sahu continued to demand and consummate sexual contact, always backed by the assurance that he would formalise their relationship once he got placed. Medical examination records cited in court showed that her hymen had been ruptured, and the examining doctor affirmed that the woman described being repeatedly drawn into sex through the lure of marriage.

Caste insult and abrupt rejection

In 2024, Sahu was appointed as a Gram Seva Kendra agriculture extension officer, a government post that elevated his social standing in rural Chhattisgarh. After the job letter, the woman noticed a sharp change in his attitude.

The court heard that he began mocking her on caste grounds, calling her a “lower‑caste Satnami girl” and making it clear that he had no intention of marrying her. In November 2025, the woman alleged that he again called her to Manpur, Balod–Bhatapara, and again used the marriage promise to have sex with her.themooknayak+1

On December 4, 2025, Sahu summoned her to Raipur and bluntly told her he would not marry her because she belonged to the Satnami community; he added that he wanted to marry someone else. He then blocked her on his phone and on WhatsApp, cutting off all communication.

Police and court course

The woman filed a formal complaint at Mana Police Station on January 7, 2026. Police investigated the case, prepared a chargesheet, and remanded Sahu into judicial custody on February 6, 2026.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 14 witnesses, including the woman, her mother and brother, and the medical officer involved in her examination. The woman’s mother and brother told the court that the victim had shared with them how Sahu had used the promise of marriage to lure her into repeated sexual relations and later humiliated her over caste.

Court’s reasoning and verdict

In its verdict, the special court observed that Sahu had known the woman’s caste from the beginning yet continued to exploit her by giving her false hopes of marriage. The judge described the act as a “serious offence” and underlined the psychological and social harm inflicted on a woman from a marginalised community.

The court convicted Sahu under BNS Sections 64(2)(M) and 69, each attracting ten years’ rigorous imprisonment, and Section 3(2)(5) of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. All prison terms were directed to run concurrently, with the ₹6,000 fine.

Social and legal significance

The judgment has drawn attention in Chhattisgarh because it underscores how abuse by public‑serving officials can intersect with caste prejudice and gender‑based exploitation. Legal experts in Raipur noted that invoking the SC/ST Atrocities provisions in a case involving a civil‑service officer may signal a stricter judicial response to misuse of position and power in inter‑caste relationships.

For the woman, the verdict has been described by local activists as a partial vindication of her decision to step into the public glare despite the stigma attached to rape and caste‑related abuse. Her case now stands as one of the early post‑amendment BNS rape‑cum‑atrocities cases in the state, likely to be cited in future discussions on how swiftly the new criminal‑law framework is being applied in rural and semi‑urban sexual‑violence cases.