Delhi Court sentences 4 convicts to life imprisonment for murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan

A Delhi Court on Saturday sentenced four men to life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in the year 2008..Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Ravinder Kumar Pandey of Saket Court sentenced Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar and Baljeet Malik to life imprisonment.Another convict Ajay Sethi was sentenced to three years of simple imprisonment..On October 18, the Court had convicted Kapoor, Shukla, Kumar and Malik guilty of Vishwanathan’s murder. The Court held that their role was proved beyond reasonable doubt. They were convicted under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (offence committed with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).All four of them were also held guilty under Section 3(1) (i)of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).Meanwhile, Sethi was convicted for offences under Section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC and Section 3(2) and 3(5) of MCOCA..Vishwanathan was a journalist working with India Today. She was found dead in her car in Vasant Kunj in September 2008.Forensic reports indicated she died due to a bullet wound in her head. According to the police, Vishwanathan was returning home late at night from her office when she was chased and shot.The breakthrough in the case came in March 2009, when the police arrested Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla for their involvement in another case.In the disclosure statements, they confessed to the murder.The chargesheet in the case was filed in June 2010. The court completed hearing arguments in the case on 19, 2016. However, the judgment was deferred several times before it was pronounced.