Jigisha murder case: 2 get death, one escapes with life term

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Two convicts in the 2009 JigishaGhosh murder case were today awarded death penalty while oneescaped with life term, as a Delhi court held that the 28-year-old IT executive was killed in a "cold-blooded, inhumanand cruel manner" and "brutally mauled to death". The court said the magnitude and brutality exhibited bythe convicts made the case ‘rarest of rare’, warrantingcapital punishment for Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla. The thirdoffender Baljeet Malik was given reprieve from gallows for hisgood conduct in jail. The court also imposed varying fines on the convicts,with Kapoor being slapped with a fine of Rs 1.2 lakh due tohis incapacity to pay, while Shukla and Malik directed to payRs 2.8 lakh and Rs 5.8 lakh respectively as the pre-sentencingreport suggested they were financially strong. The trio are also facing trial for the murder of TVjournalist Soumya Viswanathan, killed a year before Jigisha. While awarding the extreme punishment to Kapoor andShukla, Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav said "they area threat to the society" and the magnitude and brutalityexhibited by the convicts brings the case within the categoryof ‘rarest of rare’. "The offence was committed in cold-blooded, inhuman andcruel manner. Innocent, helpless and vulnerable victimremained in the captivity of the convicts for hours. Shepleaded to convicts not to take her life and to save herself,she handed over her debit card and other belongings to them.Victim also disclosed the pin number of her debit card to theconvicts. "However, they were satisfied only by brutally maulingher to death. In other words, convicts behaved in uncivilisedand barbaric manner against a helpless girl," the judge said,pronouncing the order on sentence in a packed court room. The court said leniency cannot be shown to these convictsas there was a rise of gruesome crimes against women whichneeded to be dealt with an appropriate sentence. "Gruesome crimes against women are on the rise in therecent years. Any leniency in such cases will send very wrongmessage in society and encourage criminals like the convicts.Passing appropriate sentence in such cases will go a long wayin arresting the increasing trend of crime against women. "Some cruelty and brutality is involved in every crimeagainst human body. It is the level, magnitude and degree ofbrutality, attitude and mindset of wrongdoer behind the crimealong with other factors which make it a rarest of rare case.The magnitude and brutality exhibited by convicts brings thiscase within the category of rarest of rare," the judge said.(more) PTI AG UK RKSARC