Noida: Man gets life term for hacking woman to death

NOIDA: A Noida court on Friday handed the life term to a man for killing a woman friend with an axe in 2013. Additional sessions judge Ved Prakash Verma also issued a fine of Rs 20,000 on the man.
Dhanoj Giri, then 25, was accused of killing 23-year-old Meenakshi at his rented house in Mamura village. The man had also attacked a mutual friend, Farhan Idrisi, outside his office.
Originally from Muzaffarnagar, Meenakshi worked with a private company in Sector 63 and stayed in a rented house in Mamura. She knew Giri as both of them had previously worked in Sector 65.
Although the court order did not mention the motive behind the murder, Sukhveer Nagar, the government counsel, said, “Giri liked the woman and wanted to marry her, but she spurned his advances. He had then started harassing her and this had been continuing for some time.”
Meenakshi’s father, Suresh Pal, had in 2013 told police there was a “sudden change” in Giri’s behaviour towards his daughter. On one occasion, Giri had even apologised to Meenakshi and promised to mend his ways.
On July 1, 2013, Giri convinced Meenakshi to visit his rented house in Mamura. “When she did not return home for long, her sister Neelakshi, who had come to stay with her a day earlier, called up Giri. The man told Neelakshi her sister was with him and disconnected the call. He then switched off his phone,” said Nagar.
Sensing something amiss, Neelakshi went to Giri’s house in the afternoon and found the door locked from outside. She gathered a few friends and locals at the spot and broke open the door. Meenakshi lay dead on the bed with deep wounds in the head and neck.
A case was registered at Sector 58 police station against Giri following a complaint from Meenakshi’s family. A few days later, Giri was arrested, produced in a district court and remanded in judicial custody.
Several witnesses, including Neelakshi and Farhan Idrisi, had testified against Giri in court. Idris had informed the court that Giri had attacked him too with an axe that day when he was about to leave his office. “Giri and Meenakshi had worked with me in the same office in the past. Later, they left the job. Giri had told me he liked Meenakshi and had warned me to stay away from her,” he said.
According to Idrisi, Giri had walked up to him with a blood-stained axe in hand. “He had killed Meenakshi with it and wanted to kill me too. He attacked me on the head and I was unconscious. Fortunately, a few guards came to my rescue and rushed me to the hospital,” he added.
Dr RS Verma, who conducted the autopsy on Meenakshi’s body, said there were deep, gushing wounds in the neck and skull.
During the hearing, Giri pleaded innocence in court. The court, however, relied on the evidence and the accounts of witnesses and convicted Giri on Friday. “Dhanoj Giri is sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 20,000 under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC. He is also sentenced to one-year imprisonment under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the IPC,” the court said.