A Delhi court has sentenced a 32-year-old man to life imprisonment, holding him guilty of killing an 18-year-old youth as he was peeved with the victim for allegedly passing on information regarding him to the police.
The counsel for the accused urged the court to award him a lenient punishment, arguing that he is the sole beard-earner in his family and the caretaker of his aged mother, while the prosecution argued for a death sentence.
Rejecting the prosecution’s plea, Additional Sessions Judge Poonam Chaudhry said: “In the present case, it has to be kept in mind that the victim was only 18-19 years old and a precious human life was lost. However, I am of the view that the present case does not come under the ‘rarest of the rare’ category to attract a death penalty.”
₹10,000 fine
“I, accordingly, sentence accused Mohd. Shamim to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and also sentence him to pay fine of ₹10,000 for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC, in default thereof, the convict shall undergo simple imprisonment for three months,” the judge said.
‘The incident had occurred in the central Delhi’s Sarai Rohilla in 2011. There were two accused involved in the case. The police, however, could not arrest the other accused.
The prosecution proved the case on the basis of accounts by three eyewitnesses.
“In the instant case, nature of injuries prove the intention to cause death or intention of causing bodily injury which is sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature... On a careful scrutiny of evidence it has been seen that there was no provocation or fight or sudden quarrel. The nature of weapon used by the accused and injuries inflicted on the vital parts of the body of deceased leave no room for doubt that the intention was to cause death or in all event bodily injury, sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature,” Ms. Chaudhry also said in her judgment.
“For the foregoing reasons, I am of the view that prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused Shamim was the perpetrator of crime. I accordingly hold him guilty under Section 302/34 IPC,” the judge stated, holding the accused guilty.