Property Dispute Murder: Father-Son Duo Gets Life Term After 12 Years

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A district court has sentenced a father and son to life imprisonment in a 12-year-old murder case, observing that greed over property drove them to kill a close family member.

The court remarked that an elder brother is like a father and noted that the accused did not spare their own brother despite growing up together.

The court convicted Pradeep Rathore and his father, Omprakash Rathore, under Sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Both were sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 500 under each offence. A third accused, Ravishankar, remains absconding.

According to the prosecution, Pradeep and Omprakash conspired to murder Pradeep's elder brother, Atul Rathore, over a land dispute in the Lasudia area on June 27, 2014.

While awarding the sentence, the court observed that punishment must balance the gravity of the offence with the mitigating circumstances of the accused.

Citing Supreme Court judgments, it said sentencing should be proportionate to the crime committed.

The court held that although the murder was brutal, it did not fall within the "rarest of rare" category and therefore did not warrant the death penalty.

It also noted that the convicts had no previous criminal record or convictions, and there was no evidence of any subsequent criminal conduct.

Considering their social, economic and family circumstances, the court found life imprisonment to be an appropriate sentence.

The prosecution was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Yogesh Jaiswal.