New Delhi: Terming as "rare" the gruesome
murder of a woman by her sister`s husband after he failed to
rape her, a Delhi court has sentenced the man to life
imprisonment with the stipulation that he will not be released
without actually serving the jail term for 25 years.
Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said though the case
does not come in the category of rarest of rare, which
warrants death penalty, "it certainly falls within the
category of rare cases".
While awarding life imprisonment to convicts, the courts
usually do not spell out the exact period that a lifer has to
serve in prison as he is also entitled to various kinds of
remissions in sentence as per the provisions of jail manual
and rules, bringing the term down to 14 years.
"The convict is sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for
life with the direction that he shall not be considered for
grant of remission till he undergoes an actual sentence of 25
years," the court said, while sentencing Shalimar Bagh
resident Aman Kumar Rastogi for murdering his sister-in-law.
It also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on him stipulating
that the amount, if recovered, should be given to the victim`s
minor daughter who lost her mother at the age of two and a
half years.
The case dates back to June 25, 2004, when Rastogi and
his sister-in-law were alone at home. Taking advantage of it,
Rastogi entered the victim`s room and tried to rape her.
But facing stiff resisted from her, Rastogi strangulated
her to death in a fit of rage. After committing the crime, he
sought it to mask it as a case of murder-cum-robbery by
removing a window mesh in the house and the victim`s jewellery
from her body.
Rastogi, 48, landed in police net after the deceased`s
father noticed scratches and bruises on his body along
with bite marks on his fingers.
The judge said the multiple injuries on the victim`s body
speaks volumes of the struggle and resistance offered by her
and the pain that she must have undergone before she died.
"The medical evidence also established the bite marks
present on the cheek of the deceased and bruises over her body
which proved that Rastogi had committed an aggravated sexual
assault on her who had put a stiff resistance and struggled
with him," the court said.
PTI
