HC upholds sentences of man for murdering senior citizen, grandson

In 2014, the trial court had sentenced Yadubahadur Singh to life imprisonment for murdering Ushaben Parekh, and seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for murdering her grandson Harsh.

The Bombay high court (HC) upheld the conviction of a man who had murdered a 74-year-old Santacruz resident and her 12-year-old grandson in 2008, while robbing valuables worth ₹15 lakh from their home. In 2014, the trial court had sentenced Yadubahadur Singh to life imprisonment for murdering Ushaben Parekh, and seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for murdering her grandson Harsh.

The Bombay high court (HC) upheld the conviction of a man who had murdered a 74-year-old Santacruz resident and her 12-year-old grandson in 2008, while robbing valuables worth ₹15 lakh from their home.

In 2008, the boy’s mother Rupal had found the two murdered at their Santacruz home and cash and valuables worth ₹15 lakh to be missing.

During investigation, the police discovered that the family’s house help, who was hired a few days before the crime, had been interacting with some unknown people in the society premises. The police then arrested the house help and based on his confession, later arrested Singh and recovered the valuables. During the trial, the lower court convicted Singh for the murders on the basis of the evidence submitted by the police.

Singh then appealed against the conviction on the grounds that the victims’ family had failed to identify the valuables seized from him. Singh’s advocate also pointed out that prosecution had failed to prove his client’s presence in the victims’ home and his fingerprints had been faked by the police. In his appeal, Singh also said the conviction must be set aside as the evidences found by the probing agencies were inconclusive to incriminate him.

A division bench of justices BP Dharmadhikari and PD Naik held that Singh had received a fair trial from the lower court and refused to entertain the appeal.