Delhi court convicts man for battering wife, daughter dead with iron rod

The court convicted Kishore under IPC Section 302 for the murders of his wife and daughter, and under Section 307 for attempting to murder another daughter.

A local court has convicted a man of murdering his wife and daughter with an iron rod in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar and attempting to kill his second daughter in 2018.

In the early hours of August 28, 2018, Nand Kishore's wife and both daughters were assaulted with an iron rod at their Sangam Vihar residence. (Representational Image (RAJ K RAJ/HT))

In an order dated August 31, the court held, "Circumstances form a complete and unbroken chain consistent only with the guilt of the accused and exclude every reasonable hypothesis of his innocence."

Additional Sessions Judge Samar Vishal was hearing a case against Nand Kishore who was accused of murdering his wife Vidyawati and daughter Kavita, and also attempting to kill another daughter, with iron rod.

The court noted that the submission of defence that an unknown burglar had entered the Sangam Vihar house through an adjoining rooftops and attacked the family, and said the "theory is a speculative possibility and not a reasonable inference arising from the evidence".

Kavita was declared brought dead at AIIMS Trauma Centre, while the wife died during treatment. Another daughter suffered severe head injuries and remained comatose for a prolonged period.

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The court convicted Kishore under IPC Section 302 for the murders of his wife and daughter, and under Section 307 for attempting to murder another daughter.

The court noted that the prosecution's initial eyewitnesses, including the accused's sons, did not fully support the case during trial.

Rahul, who had initially told police that he saw his father assaulting the victims, later turned hostile. The judge therefore examined the case principally on circumstantial and corroborative evidence.

The judge said the accused was found inside the room immediately after the assault and was seen holding the iron rod. The bloodstained rod was recovered from the same room and DNA profiles of both deceased women were detected on it.

Medical evidence also established that the victims suffered severe blunt-force head injuries.

"The repeated blows upon the heads of Vidyawati and Kavita with a heavy iron rod, causing fatal cranio-cerebral injuries, clearly establish the intention to cause death or, at the minimum, the intention to cause bodily injuries sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death," the court held.

Regarding the second daughter, the court said the assault caused a skull fracture, protrusion of brain matter and prolonged unconsciousness, establishing the requisite intention and knowledge for an attempt to murder. Her survival, it said, could not reduce the criminality of the act.

The court listed the hearing of arguments on quantum of sentence for September 7.