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Dying declaration seals life term for two in Sultanpur CHC doctor murder
Prosecution officials said the case hinged largely on the dying declaration recorded before the doctor’s death, which provided a direct and consistent account of the assault and identified the assailants. The court found the statement reliable and corroborated by witness testimonies and circumstantial evidence.
A Sultanpur court has sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the 2023 murder of a community health centre (CHC) doctor, relying on the victim’s dying declaration to establish the sequence of events and fix culpability.
Additional district judge (ADJ) Sandhya Chaudhary on Tuesday (March 24) sentenced Ajay Narain Singh and his driver Deepak Singh after convicting them on March 18. The court also imposed a fine of ₹1.90 lakh and directed that the amount be paid to the doctor’s wife, Nisha Tiwari, as compensation.
The victim, Dr Ghanshyam Tiwari, a resident of Sakhauli Kala under Lambhua police station limits, was posted at the Jaysinghpur CHC and lived with his family in rented accommodation in Shastri Nagar.
According to district government counsel Santosh Pandey, the incident occurred on the evening of September 23, 2023, in Narayanpur locality under Kotwali Nagar area. The accused allegedly called the doctor to the spot and assaulted him with sticks and wooden planks, leaving him critically injured. He was later taken to his residence on an e-rickshaw and rushed by his wife to the district hospital, where he succumbed.
Prosecution officials said the case hinged largely on the dying declaration recorded before the doctor’s death, which provided a direct and consistent account of the assault and identified the assailants. The court found the statement reliable and corroborated by witness testimonies and circumstantial evidence.
Eight witnesses were examined during the trial, including the complainant and the victim’s wife Nisha Tiwari, her sister Shanti Pandey, the couple’s minor son, medical expert Dr Dinesh Chandra Yadav, and the investigating officer. Their testimonies collectively reinforced the prosecution’s narrative and helped establish an unbroken chain of evidence.
The prosecution noted that the FIR initially named four individuals, including Ajay Narain Singh, his driver Deepak Singh, his father Jagdish Narain Singh, and cousin Vijay Narain Singh. However, subsequent developments altered the case trajectory as Vijay Narain Singh was shot dead on April 7, 2024, in an unrelated incident, while Jagdish Narain Singh died of illness about a year later.
Defence counsel Arvind Singh Raja argued that the conviction was not supported by conclusive medical evidence, contending that the post-mortem findings did not definitively attribute the cause of death to the injuries sustained in the assault. He said the verdict would be challenged before the high court.
Reacting to the judgement, Nisha Tiwari said the punishment, though welcome, does not compensate for the loss suffered by the family. “No punishment can bring my husband back or undo our suffering,” she said.
The killing had triggered widespread outrage at the time, prompting protests and leading the state government to provide ₹10 lakh as financial assistance to the bereaved family.
