Ghaziabad: Man gets life term for killing his wife, 3 kids in Indirapuram

Before the murders, Sumit Kumar, an engineer, worked as a data scientist in Noida, Gurugram and later went to Bengaluru, Karnataka, in 2018 but resigned in 2019

Ghaziabad: A Ghaziabad court awarded life imprisonment to a 40-year-old man for murdering his wife and their three minor children, including twins, by slashing their throats at their house on the intervening night of April 20 and 21, 2019, in Indirapuram’s Gyan Khand, the police said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The accused had lost his job and was facing a financial crunch while his wife was working as a teacher. He could have tried to get some other job, but he chose otherwise, said additional district government counsel Sanjeev Kumar. (Representational image)

Before the murders, Sumit Kumar, an engineer, worked as a data scientist in Noida, Gurugram and later went to Bengaluru, Karnataka, in 2018 but resigned in 2019.

The deceased were identified as Kumar’s wife, Anshu Bala, 32, their five-year-old son, and twins aged four. Bala worked as a teacher at a play school in Indirapuram, while Kumar was unemployed at the time of incident.

“The court awarded life imprisonment to Kumar for the murders. The police worked hard in the case and collected crucial evidence, which finally led to the conviction,” said assistant commissioner of police (Indirapuram circle) Abhishek Srivastava.

The court, headed by additional sessions judge Shiv Kumar Tiwary, in its order pronounced on September 20, awarded life imprisonment to Kumar along with a ₹10,000 fine under section 302 (murder) of the IPC and one year of rigorous imprisonment under section 4/25 of the Arms Act.

Police said it had registered an FIR over the killings on April 21, 2019, against Kumar, and a charge sheet was filed in the case on June 22, 2019.

“The case was purely based on circumstantial evidence, as there was no eyewitness to the crime and all four victims had died after their throats were slashed with a knife. After the murders, Kumar fled to Karnataka, where he surrendered to police and narrated about the crime. Later, he was brought back by Ghaziabad police on transit remand. CCTV also captured him buying a set of knives from a store, and it was later recovered after the crime at his instance. The forensics later confirmed the same knife was used during the crime,” said additional district government counsel Sanjeev Kumar.

“The accused had lost his job and was facing a financial crunch while his wife was working as a teacher. He could have tried to get some other job, but he chose otherwise,” Kumar added.

The prosecution said that Kumar was present in the house with the four deceased on April 20, 2019, while there was no other person present in the house; all four victims had their throats slashed with a sharp-edged weapon; Kumar, on April 22, 2019, reached Manipal police station in Udupi district in Karnataka and narrated the crime to the police; the Ghaziabad police brought him back to Ghaziabad on transit remand on April 23, 2019; the knife used in the crime was recovered at the instance of Kumar on April 24, 2019, in Indirapuram; and the set of five knives was purchased by him on April 20, 2019.

Prosecution witness Mukund Tiwari told the court in his chief examination that Kumar had purchased a set of knives for ₹2017 in cash from his showroom around 5.17pm on April 20. A recording of CCTV footage of Kumar’s presence in the showroom was also provided to the police.

Netravatir, a woman head of the Karnataka police, was also produced as a prosecution witness. The officer told the court that Sumit arrived at the Manipal police station in Karnataka on April 22, 2019, and had told her that he was from Ghaziabad and had come after slashing the throats of his wife and three children. He also told us that he boarded a train from Delhi and deboarded at Udupi railway station, the officer further added.

The witness further confirmed Kumar’s narration from his brother in Ghaziabad, and he confirmed that murders have in fact taken place.

Dr AK Dixit, who appeared before the court, testified that the deceased woman suffered 15 different cut injuries, including the one on her throat, while three children suffered cuts on their necks.

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