NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday handed down life sentences to four individuals convicted in the 2008 killing of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, while the fifth convict received a three-year jail term.
The court, in determining the punishment, stated that the offense did not meet the criteria for the rarest of rare cases, rejecting the request for a death penalty.
Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar were sentenced to life imprisonment, while the fifth convict, Ajay Sethi, received a three-year term of simple imprisonment.
Soumya Vishwanathan, employed by a prominent English news channel, was fatally shot in the early hours of September 30, 2008, on Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi as she was returning home from work. The police attributed the motive to robbery.
On October 18, the court found Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar guilty under Indian Penal Code section 302 (murder) and provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for engaging in organized crime resulting in a person's death.
Ajay Sethi was convicted under IPC section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and MCOCA provisions for conspiring to abet, aid, or knowingly facilitate organized crime and receiving proceeds of organized crime.
As per the prosecution's account, Ravi Kapoor shot Soumya Vishwanathan with a country-made pistol on September 30, 2008, on Nelson Mandela Marg in South Delhi while pursuing the victim's car for robbery. Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar, and Baljeet Malik were also present with Kapoor. The police recovered the car used in the murder from the fifth accused, Ajay Sethi, alias Chacha.
Madhavi Vishwanathan, Soumya Vishwanathan's mother, expressed satisfaction with the court's judgment but stated that she was not happy. She remarked, "I wanted this. What I am suffering, I want them to suffer for life. I am satisfied, but I will not say that I am happy. My husband is in ICU. He had a bypass surgery." During the proceedings, when asked if she had any submissions, she said, "Justice must be done."
While sentencing Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar to life imprisonment, the court of Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey also imposed a fine of Rs 1.25 lakh on each of them. The fifth convict, Ajay Sethi, was sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 7.25 lakh. The court, however, noted that he had already undergone more than 14 years of imprisonment.
(With agency inputs)
