New Delhi: A man, held guilty of killing his
wife and father-in-law by stabbing them repeatedly, has been
jailed for 25 years by a Delhi court.
Additional Sessions Judge Gurdeep Singh jailed
35-year-old North East Delhi resident Raj Kumar for 25 years
terming his crime as one "bordering on the rarest of rare"
category and stipulating that he must not be released before
25 years in prison.
"This case borders on the rarest of the rare case as
innocent helpless wife and old father-in-law have been killed
in a cold blooded manner," said ASJ Singh.
"In the present case, the age of the convict (Kumar) is
35 years and he would turn to 60 years in next 25 years," said
the judge.
"I am of the opinion that the ends of justice would be
met in sentencing the convict to undergo rigorous imprisonment
for life for offence punishable under section 302 (murder) of
IPC. The life imprisonment shall not be less than 25 years and
it cannot be commuted before 25 years," he added.
"The murder had shaken the conscience of the community
where it was committed," the court said.
As per the prosecution, Raj Kumar had stabbed his wife
Seema and father-in-law Ram Chander to death on August 15,
2009, at the latter's house as he was upset that his wife had
deserted him due to matrimonial disputes and refused to return
to him.
As per the prosecution, Kumar visited Seema at her
father's house on the day of the incident and stabbed her for
over ten times. He also repeatedly stabbed his father-in-law
who had tried to save his daughter.
After committing the twin murder, Kumar fled the spot but
surrendered in the court four days later.
During the trial, one of the witnesses told the court
that Kumar was unhappy with Seema and with her father over his
refusal to send her back to him.
The witnesses said he saw Kumar running away from the
spot after the incident, holding a knife and proclaiming that
he killed the two and daring them to do whatever they can.
The court refused to accept Kumar's contention that he
was out of station at the time of the incident and was falsely
implicated.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 02, 2011, 18:01