A man who strangulated to death his stepdaughter, with whom he was having physical relations, on the eve of her marriage after she refused to elope with him has been sentenced to life term by a Delhi court.
The court awarded the jail term to the Delhi resident for killing the 18-year-old girl, saying the convict had committed the crime as he wanted to "satisfy his lust" with the victim.
"From the other circumstances on the record, it can sufficiently be gathered that the motive of accused behind the murder of deceased was to satisfy his lust for sex with the deceased because it has also come on record in the deposition of prosecution witness 2 (victim's mother) that the accused was having an evil eye on the deceased.
"In this regard the disclosure statement of accused highlights the state of affairs, which has a vital link with the deposition of PW2," Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor said and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict.
According to the prosecution, the accused had murdered the girl by strangulating her with a wire after she refused to elope with him on the night of February 15, 2010.
The accused had married the victim's mother without disclosing her that he was already married, it said adding that he was having an "evil eye" upon the girl and was forcing her to marry him and elope with him.
The police said the accused maintained physical relations with his stepdaughter and when her mother came to know about it, she asked him to arrange for the girl's marriage.
It also told the court the accused had stated in his disclosure statement that on the night of the incident, he had returned home with an intention to elope with the girl but she refused as she was to be married the next day.
He, however, forcibly took her to a room inside the house and made physical relations and on her refusal to elope with him, he got annoyed and strangulated her with a wire, it said.
The accused denied the allegations and sought leniency saying he was implicated in the case.
