A Himachal Pradesh court on Wednesday sentenced three persons to death for murdering a four-year-old boy whose skeletal remains were found in a municipal water tank two years later.
Shimla Sessions Judge Virender Singh convicted Chander Sharma, Tajender Singh and Vikrant Bakshi on August 6 for the child’s murder, but deferred the hearing on the quantum of sentence.
Yug’s father Vinod Kumar Gupta, mother Pinki Gupta and grandmother Chandralekha Gupta were present in the packed court as the sentence was pronounced.
“My son cannot come back but I am satisfied with the verdict of death penalty for the guilty,” Mr. Gupta said.
Yug was abducted from the busy Ram Bazar area in Shimla on June 14, 2014, and killed after seven days, even before a ransom call was made.
His remains were recovered from a Shimla Municipal Corporation water tank in Kelston area on August 21, 2016, after the probe was handed over to the CID.
‘Tortured, starved’
The prosecution said Yug was tortured, starved and forcibly served liquor before being thrown alive into the water tank. A rock was tied to him to drown him in the tank, it said.
The boy’s killing had sent shock waves across the city and residents took out processions and candlelight marches to express their rage.
Mr. Gupta had filed a missing person’s complaint at Sadar police station the day his son was abducted. A criminal case was registered on June 16, while a letter seeking a ransom of ₹3.6 crore was received on June 27.
Ransom letters
Three more ransom letters were received subsequently.
On January 29, 2016, some municipal corporation employees found his skeleton while cleaning the tank after a jaundice outbreak in the city.
Public prosecutor Randip Singh Parmar said that statements of 105 witnesses were recorded in the case. The death sentence would have to be confirmed by the high court.
The convicts may file appeal against the sentence at the high court within 30 days, he added.