Life sentence for two in Pushkin murder case

A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced two men, including an AIDS patient, to life imprisonment for stabbing to death an IAS officer's son and his gay partner in south Delhi in 2004. The case came to be known as the Pushkin Chandra murder case.

A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced two men, including an AIDS patient, to life imprisonment for stabbing to death an IAS officer's son and his gay partner in south Delhi in 2004. The case came to be known as the Pushkin Chandra murder case.

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Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar, who sentenced accused Rajesh Rekwar (an AIDS patient) and Moti alias Mohit to life imprisonment for murder and theft, also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 each on them.

The defence counsel pleaded for leniency on the ground that Rekwar and his wife both were AIDS patients but the court did not oblige him.

The court, however, acquitted two other accused — Paramvir and Jay Kishore — for want of evidence.

Rekwar and Moti had killed Pushkin Chandra, son of a retired IAS officer, and his friend Kuldeep on the intervening night of August 13-14, 2004 at Chandra's residence in Anand Lok area of south Delhi.

“It is evident from the record that Pushkin Chandra used to indulge in unnatural sexual activities” said the judge, who also watched in the courtroom a video cassette showing Chandra having sex with young men. But the court said: “No material evidence could be gathered to show he blackmailed the poor boys with whom he used to indulge in sexually pervert acts….”

Investigating Officer Inspector Harcharan Verma arrested the accused from the Indo-Nepal border. The police recovered two blood-stained butcher’s knives from the spot.

The court went by the statement of Hare Ram, a servant at Chandra's residence, who saw both the accused visit, the evening of the murder.