Two get death for Jigisha’s murder

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday sentenced two men to death and one to life in prison for murdering IT professional Jigisha Ghosh, whose abduction from outside

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday sentenced two men to death and one to life in prison for murdering IT professional Jigisha Ghosh, whose abduction from outside her south Delhi home and murder rocked the Capital seven years ago.

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“The magnitude and brutality exhibited by the convicts while committing the crime brings this case with the category of rarest of rare cases,” additional sessions judge Sandeep Yadav said directed that convicts Amit Shukla and Ravi Kapoor should be “hanged by neck till death”.

Jigisha’s mother, Sabita Ghosh, was happy with the verdict. “I wanted the duo to get death penalty, and that is exactly what happened. I am happy with the verdict. This will set an example for others,” she said.

The 28-year-old had left office in Noida on March 18, 2009, but did not return home though her office cab dropped her outside her apartment block. Ghosh was an operations manager with Hewitt Associate Pvt Ltd.

The three men rob bed her of her gold jewellery, two mobile phones, and debit and credit cards. Her body was found near Surajkund in Haryana, about 20km from her Vasant Vihar home.

“Victim pleaded to convicts not to take her life... However, the convicts were satisfied only by brutally mauling her to death,” the court said, adding that the crime was “committed in cold blooded, inhuman and cruel manner”.

The trio — Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla and Baljit Singh Malik — was arrested within a week, as police followed digital footprints after the suspects used Jigisha’s ATM cards to buy expensive goggles, wristwatches and shoes at Sarojini Nagar Market in south Delhi.

The trio was nailed after police identified them from CCTV footage. Malik’s hand tattoo busted the gang as the shop’s surveillance camera captured the image when the trio was out shopping.

The convicts told the police during cross- examination that they had shot dead television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan as well, when she was driving home after a night shift in office on September 30, 2008. The murder weapon, a gun, was recovered from them.

They strangulated Jigisha to death, and to throw investigators off-track, they threw one of her mobile phones in a moving truck and another on the road, police said.

The court relied on the Pre Sentence Report (PSR) from the probation officer, which said Ravi and Amit were involved in misconduct and violation of rules during their stay in jail after arrest.

The PSR concluded that the duo could not be reformed and “would be a threat to the society in future”. For the third convict – Baljeet – the PSR report said there was no complaint against him in jail and he could be given chance for reformation and rehabilitation.

“Gruesome crimes against women are on the rise in recent years. Any leniency in such cases will send very wrong message in the society and will encourage the criminals like convicts,” the court said.

It further directed that a compensation of ` 6 lakh to be given to the parents of the deceased which will be borne by the three convicts.