Surat student Grishma Vekariya murder case: Gujarat HC issues notice to convict

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Thursday issued notice to Surat’s youth Fenil Goyani who has been punished with the death sentence for killing 21-year-old college student Grishma Vekariya in full public gaze in February.
The vacation bench of justice Biren Vaishnav and Justice Sandeep Bhatt admitted the case for confirmation of the death sentence as case proceedings from the Surat sessions court were forwarded to the HC for its nod under provisions of section 366 of the CrPC. The bench has posted a further hearing in this case on June 28.
On May 5, a Surat’s court sentenced stalker Goyani to death after treating his murder as a "rarest of the rare" case. Goyani was punished for slitting the throat of Vekariya, a resident of Kamrej, in front of her family members and neighbours on February 12.
Goyani was upset after Vekariya refused to be in a relationship with him. He had also stabbed Vekariya's brother and uncle when they tried to rescue her and later injured himself with the same knife. The police took him to a hospital in Kamrej and arrested him on February 16 after his treatment.
The police had filed a 2,500-page charge sheet within a week of the incident, and later also submitted 120 documentary pieces of evidence to strengthen the case.
Many onlookers had captured the entire incident on their smartphones. The video clips and the eyewitness accounts of 25 people proved as crucial pieces of evidence for the prosecution.
The HC’s notice to Goyani is the 47th such notice issued in the last three months in cases of death confirmation. Various sessions courts have condemned 47 persons to death in 2022 in eight different cases including the 2008 serial blasts case in which 38 persons were ordered to be hanged in February by a special court.