Snatcher gets 8 yrs in jail for ‘giving city a bad name’

Stating that it gives the city a bad name, a Delhi court sentenced a snatcher to an eight-year-jail term.

Stating that it gives the city a bad name, a Delhi court sentenced a snatcher to an eight-year-jail term.

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The man was accused of snatching a gold chain off a NSG commando's wife and assaulting him at the New Delhi railway station.

Additional sessions judge Pawan Kumar Jain, convicted the 22-year-old youth saying, "…the incident had taken place near the railway station. Such incidents not only create an atmosphere of insecurity among passengers and tourists, but also give a bad name to the city."

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 on the convict, Sheikh Munna.

As soon as the sentence was pronounced, Munna turned violent and started abusing the judge and others present in the courtroom. Court staff who witnessed his outrage said that he picked up a chair and threw it on the floor, banged the almirahs and other furniture and could be controlled only after the police force was rushed to the scene.

On March 12, 2011, NSG commando B. Udai Raj and his wife Asha Rani along with their one-year-old child were travelling to their native village. Munna, along with two other accomplices, Saddam and Bhura (who have not been nabbed by the police), snatched Asha's gold chain. When Udai tried to intervene, Munna assaulted him using a surgical blade.

The counsel for the accused prayed for leniency on the basis of the age of the accused and that he was the sole bread earner of his family.

Rejecting his plea for leniency, the court said that the convict deserved substantial punishment.

The court noted the trauma faced by the couple on their way to the journey and awarded Rs. 35,000 to Udai and Rs. 15,000 as compensation to be paid from the fine to be deposited by the convict.

"Not only did they suffer monetary loss, but the husband sustained injuries," the court added.