A Court in Punjab’s Ludhiana on Thursday sentenced a 33-year-old woman to death for the murder of a 2-year-old girl in 2021..Sessions Judge Munish Singal said the convict Neelam had crossed all the limits of cruelty and killed the child Dilroz Kaur in the most barbaric manner.“There cannot be more graver, heinous and barbaric crime than burying alive a girl of tender age of 2-3/4 years of age who must not have understood the acts of her next door neighbour,” the Court said..It further noted that the CCTV footage revealed that Kaur was in a happy and jovial mood when she was standing in the front of the Scooty being driven by the convict.“The small child must be thinking that her aunt whom she used to call 'Bua' was taking her on a joyride or perhaps going to buy some goodies for her. Little did she know she had been kidnapped by her aunty whom she trusted and she had no idea that her life was going to end soon. In fact the tender child of 2-3/4 years does not even know about life or death. She must have been totally confounded when convict Neelam was stuffing sand into her mouth and burying her upside down into a pit,” the Court observed..The child, who was two years and nine months old, was abducted by Neelam in November 2021 when she was playing on the street outside her home. Neelam, who kidnapped and later killed her, was chargesheeted last year.During the trial, the Prosecution told the Court that the accused had been planning the murder for quite some time as she had visited the plot, where the victim was buried, earlier and had already dug the pit.The Court was told the place where the victim was buried was at a distance of about 12-13 Kms away from where she was kidnapped. The accused denied the allegations and claimed she was falsely implicated in the case..In the verdict delivered on April 12, the Court on the basis of witness statements concluded that accused Neelam was seen together with the victim just before her murder and soon thereafter, her body was recorded. “The accused has to establish as to how and when she released minor Dilroz from her custody and in the absence of any such proof produced by the kidnapper, it would be obviously presumed that Neelam (kidnapper) continued with the custody of Dilroz (kidnapped), till she was eliminated,” the Court said..The Court also found that the mouth of the child had been stuffed with sand when she was buried. “[The] girl child must have died within few seconds due to asphyxia when her mouth and nostrils were stuffed with sand by the accused and in this forcible process, sand particles must have reached her lungs and trachea leading to suffocation and choking,” it observed on the basis of the testimony given by doctors..On the motive for murder, the Court noted that the accused was a divorcee with two children and she was living in the neighbourhood of the victim child. It found that jealousy, inferiority complex and animosity towards the neighbour and his children were a strong enough motive for her to commit the murder.The Court also relied on the extra judicial confession made by the accused to convict her and said the same was well proved. .During the hearing regarding sentencing on Thursday, the Prosecution prayed for the death sentence and argued that the convict Neelam was a danger to the society. On the contrary, the counsel representing the accused submitted that she had two children and belonged to a socially and economically backward section of the society..The Court said the manner in which the murder was committed undoubtedly brings it within the ambit of "rarest of rare" cases and therefore the death penalty can be imposed.It also said that over the years during her custody in jail, the accused had not shown any trace of remorse or repentance. In this regard, it relied on a report of the jail authorities and Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority in Ludhiana.“Ld Counsel for the convict argued that leniency be shown to the convict who was a woman and there was possibility of her reformation. I have considered this much stressed argument but I am not convinced with the same because merely being woman is not the mitigating circumstance in her favour,” the Court said..Concluding that there was no mitigating circumstance for the accused, the Court said she lacked basic human values or psyche which can be amenable for any reformation.“The entire act of committing murder of small girl child by burying her alive is a scar on the human values and the accused has broken the faith of neighbours and the faith in humanity,” it said while sentencing the convict to death..Additional Public Prosecutor BD Gupta represented the Prosecution. Advocate Parupkar Singh Ghumman represented the complainant. Advocates Varinder Jit Singh Randhawa and Seema Sangowal represented the accused.[Read Order]
A Court in Punjab’s Ludhiana on Thursday sentenced a 33-year-old woman to death for the murder of a 2-year-old girl in 2021..Sessions Judge Munish Singal said the convict Neelam had crossed all the limits of cruelty and killed the child Dilroz Kaur in the most barbaric manner.“There cannot be more graver, heinous and barbaric crime than burying alive a girl of tender age of 2-3/4 years of age who must not have understood the acts of her next door neighbour,” the Court said..It further noted that the CCTV footage revealed that Kaur was in a happy and jovial mood when she was standing in the front of the Scooty being driven by the convict.“The small child must be thinking that her aunt whom she used to call 'Bua' was taking her on a joyride or perhaps going to buy some goodies for her. Little did she know she had been kidnapped by her aunty whom she trusted and she had no idea that her life was going to end soon. In fact the tender child of 2-3/4 years does not even know about life or death. She must have been totally confounded when convict Neelam was stuffing sand into her mouth and burying her upside down into a pit,” the Court observed..The child, who was two years and nine months old, was abducted by Neelam in November 2021 when she was playing on the street outside her home. Neelam, who kidnapped and later killed her, was chargesheeted last year.During the trial, the Prosecution told the Court that the accused had been planning the murder for quite some time as she had visited the plot, where the victim was buried, earlier and had already dug the pit.The Court was told the place where the victim was buried was at a distance of about 12-13 Kms away from where she was kidnapped. The accused denied the allegations and claimed she was falsely implicated in the case..In the verdict delivered on April 12, the Court on the basis of witness statements concluded that accused Neelam was seen together with the victim just before her murder and soon thereafter, her body was recorded. “The accused has to establish as to how and when she released minor Dilroz from her custody and in the absence of any such proof produced by the kidnapper, it would be obviously presumed that Neelam (kidnapper) continued with the custody of Dilroz (kidnapped), till she was eliminated,” the Court said..The Court also found that the mouth of the child had been stuffed with sand when she was buried. “[The] girl child must have died within few seconds due to asphyxia when her mouth and nostrils were stuffed with sand by the accused and in this forcible process, sand particles must have reached her lungs and trachea leading to suffocation and choking,” it observed on the basis of the testimony given by doctors..On the motive for murder, the Court noted that the accused was a divorcee with two children and she was living in the neighbourhood of the victim child. It found that jealousy, inferiority complex and animosity towards the neighbour and his children were a strong enough motive for her to commit the murder.The Court also relied on the extra judicial confession made by the accused to convict her and said the same was well proved. .During the hearing regarding sentencing on Thursday, the Prosecution prayed for the death sentence and argued that the convict Neelam was a danger to the society. On the contrary, the counsel representing the accused submitted that she had two children and belonged to a socially and economically backward section of the society..The Court said the manner in which the murder was committed undoubtedly brings it within the ambit of "rarest of rare" cases and therefore the death penalty can be imposed.It also said that over the years during her custody in jail, the accused had not shown any trace of remorse or repentance. In this regard, it relied on a report of the jail authorities and Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority in Ludhiana.“Ld Counsel for the convict argued that leniency be shown to the convict who was a woman and there was possibility of her reformation. I have considered this much stressed argument but I am not convinced with the same because merely being woman is not the mitigating circumstance in her favour,” the Court said..Concluding that there was no mitigating circumstance for the accused, the Court said she lacked basic human values or psyche which can be amenable for any reformation.“The entire act of committing murder of small girl child by burying her alive is a scar on the human values and the accused has broken the faith of neighbours and the faith in humanity,” it said while sentencing the convict to death..Additional Public Prosecutor BD Gupta represented the Prosecution. Advocate Parupkar Singh Ghumman represented the complainant. Advocates Varinder Jit Singh Randhawa and Seema Sangowal represented the accused.[Read Order]
