Man gets death penalty for killing wife, parents

A city court on Tuesday sentenced a 29-year-old-man to death for killing his foster parents and his wife for opposing his extramarital affair, HT reports.

A city court on Tuesday sentenced a 29-year-old-man to death for killing his foster parents and his wife for opposing his extramarital affair.

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Convict Nitin Verma who had been adopted by his foster parents when he was only a few days old was awarded death penalty by Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Virender Bhat.

Calling Verma a "menace" to the society, ASJ Bhat said, "I am of the opinion that the life imprisonment would be an inadequate punishment in this case, having regard to the nature of crime and manner and circumstances in which it was committed."

In April 2008, Verma had stabbed his handicapped father, mother and his six-month pregnant wife to death for opposing his extramarital affairs with a girl.

Refusing to show any leniency to the convict, the judge said, "The present case, in my opinion, amounts to the rarest of rare cases, which shocks the collective conscience of the society, which would definitely expect the court to inflict death sentence upon the convict."

Calling Verma a "live bomb" which has the potential of causing a huge catastrophe, the judge said, "There was no justification at all for the convict to commit the grotesque killings. The convict appears to be without any remorse."

Verma was morally as well as legally duty-bound to take care of his family and to maintain them, it added.