Vendor gets life term for murder

A roadside vendor has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for killing a sweetmeat seller who had a stall adjoining his by smashing his head with a rock. They were fighting over space for their respective stalls.

A roadside vendor has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for killing a sweetmeat seller who had a stall adjoining his by smashing his head with a rock. They were fighting over space for their respective stalls.

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Additional sessions judge, (ASJ) Kamini Lau, sentenced the 41-year-old Ram Surat, holding him guilty of killing his neighbour by admitting that he committed the murder "in cold blood" and without any provocation or giving an opportunity to the victim to defend himself.

"The mitigating factor in the present case is that the convict is a first-time offender and has no previous criminal record. The aggravating factors, however, are that the convict committed the murder in cold blood. I am of the view that the present case does not fall within the category of rarest of rare crime. Convict Ram Surat is hereby sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs. 50,000 for the offence under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," the court said.

The convict was arrested by the police on the complaint of the deceased's son-in-law, Manoj Kumar Shah, who had alleged that on April 15, 2011 morning he saw Ram beat up the victim with a rock.

Shah also added that Ram fled the spot soon after he saw him looking.