Mumbai: Five get life term for 2012 honour killing

A sessions court in Dindoshi on Monday sentenced five persons to life in prison for the murder of a man who was in a relationship with the widow of the elder brother of two of the men.

The incident had taken place on Dec 17, 2012. The two brothers Jayesh Singh and Ajay Singh had entered the home of their sister-in-law Shivani Singh, who became the complainant in the case and assaulted her partner Mahesh Shukla, a real estate agent, with baseball bats. They dragged him out of the house and took him away in a vehicle. Three friends of the brothers also joined in the abduction and then strangulated Shukla, thus causing his death. They had removed all documents from Shukla’s pocket so that he was not identified and thereafter threw his body in the bushes. The victim’s body was identified by his brother after the police took him to identify it.

Additional Sessions Judge LS Chavan sentenced the four - Jayesh Singh, Vishal Solanki, Jignesh Nandvan, Ajay Singh and Rajkumar Yadav - to rigorous life terms for murder. The court also sentenced them to the offence of kidnapping and disappearance of evidence. Judge Chavan also imposed a fine on them, which is directed to be given to the family of the victim.

Prosecutor Keshav Salunkhe said the prosecution examined a total of 21 witnesses of which four are eyewitnesses. Singh, her daughter who was present at the home during the assault and two other persons from the vicinity were the four eye-witnesses who testified.

Shivani, a widow and mother of three, had come in contact with Shukla while she was looking for a home. Her husband had passed away around six months before the incident and the brothers were opposed to her relationship with Shukla.

Published on: Monday, May 30, 2022, 11:19 PM IST