Uttarakhand man gets life term for killing 5-month-old son in Zirakpur

A Mohali court sentenced Abhishek Sharma to life imprisonment for killing his five-month-old son in Zirakpur, also imposing a ₹10,000 fine.

A Mohali court has awarded life imprisonment to an Uttarakhand native who was found guilty of killing his five-month-old son in Zirakpur in June 2022.

The post-mortem confirmed that the infant had died of asphyxia due to smothering. (HT Photo for representation)

The court has also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on the convict, Abhishek Sharma of Dehradun.

Sharma, who worked in a private IT firm in Chandigarh, had moved to Zirakpur just a few months before the incident. As per the police, he had gone for a brief visit to Dehradun, where he got into an argument with his family members. After returning to Zirakpur, he had a fight with his wife, Nikita, during which he locked her out of the room. Despite her repeated pleas, he neither opened the door nor returned the child. Nikita then went to her sister’s house in Dhakoli and kept trying to contact him, but his phone remained switched off. When she returned the next day with her parents, she found the door locked and, upon entering, discovered the baby lying motionless. Sharma later admitted to her that he had killed the child the previous day by putting his hand over the infant’s mouth. Police said that after killing the baby, he tried to take his own life by slashing his wrists with a blade.

During the investigation, police recorded statements from the wife and other witnesses. The post-mortem confirmed that the infant had died of asphyxia due to smothering. Based on forensic and circumstantial evidence, the court found him guilty of murder.