GUWAHATI, Aug 3 - A fast track court here today awarded death penalty to Govind Singhal in the sensational Shweta Agarwal murder case, and life imprisonment to his mother Kamal Devi Singhal and sister Bhavani Singhal, comparing all the three convicts with wolves who preyed on a hapless sheep.
The trio was convicted on charges of murder by the court on July 30 and the date for pronouncement of quantum of punishment was fixed for today. Shweta, a BCom student of KC Das Commerce College here and a rank holder in the State higher secondary examination, was killed in cold blood by his �boyfriend� Govind in December, 2017, after she refused to surrender to his whims and fancies.
Both his sister and mother were also found guilty in executing the gruesome act. Shweta, according to the prosecution, was being pressurised by Govind for marriage.
Special public prosecutor Abhijit Bhattacharya said the evidences clearly suggest that the deceased was murdered in cold blood and that it was a planned act. �There were 13 injury marks on her body, including deep incised ones. Burn injuries, which were ante mortem and post mortem in nature, indicated that she was set on fire while she still alive,� Bhattacharya said.
�I am of the opinion that this is a fair judgement as the case is of the rarest of the rare nature,� he said, citing recovery of incriminating evidence wherein Govind had threatened her with dire consequences.
The court while delivering the judgement ruled that keeping in view the manner in which Shweta was killed by Govind, the latter has no right to live. All the three convicts were present in the court when the quantum of punishment was pronounced.
After the death sentence was pronounced, Govind virtually fainted in the courtroom. All the three convicts were taken into judicial custody.
Expressing satisfaction over the judgement, members of Shweta�s family, including her father, said it will set a precedent.
The court has also directed that the family of the deceased be paid a compensation of Rs 5 lakh.
Meanwhile, sources informed that the defence counsel is contemplating to challenge the order before the higher court.
The accused were represented by advocates JI Barbhuyan, Vidya Nanda Jha and L Mohan.
