 "Jigisha Ghosh murder case: Death penalty to 2, life term for one")
A Delhi court on Monday awarded death penalty to two convicts and life imprisonment to one for kidnapping and killing IT executive Jigisha Ghosh in 2009.
Additional Sessional Judge Sandeep Yadav awarded the death penalty to Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla, while the third accused, Baljeet Malik was sentenced to life in prison.A Delhi court will on Monday pronounce the quantum of sentence for all three convicts in the March 18, 2009 murder case of IT executive Jigisha Ghosh.
The Delhi Police had on Saturday sought maximum punishment for all three convicts in the murder case.
The three accused in the case---Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ravi Kapoor---are also accused of murdering television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan on September 30, 2008 while she was returning home from her office.
Defence lawyers, however, have sought lenient punishment for the convicts citing their family situation.
During the argument, a defence lawyer representing Ravi Kapoor said that he was only 27 and suffering from a life threatening disease. He also has two small children to support, the lawyer added.
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Meanwhile, Amit Kumar, defence lawyer for Baljeet Malik, said during the argument on allocating quantum of sentence, that the court should consider giving minimum punishment to the accused, considering their age and previous conduct.
"Considering their (accused) tender ages, there are chances that they should be allowed to come in the mainstream. On the basis of that, we have requested for minimum punishment prescribed under Section 302 of the IPC," Kumar told ANI.
On the other hand, Savita Ghosh, Jigisha's mother, said the accused have committed cold-blooded murder, and therefore, should be given the death sentence.
Jigisha, 28, was working with Hewitt Associate Pvt. Ltd. as an operations manager, was abducted and killed on March 18, 2009, after she was dropped near her home in Vasant Vihar area of South Delhi by her official cab around 4 a.m.
The trial had begun on April 15, 2010 with examination of her father as the first prosecution witness.
The court had framed charges against the accused under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act, dealing with murder, criminal conspiracy, abduction, robbery, forgery and using firearms.
The recovery of the weapon allegedly used in the murder of Jigisha also led to the cracking of the Soumya murder case.