A court in Jabalpur has awarded double-death sentences to three men who were found guilty of killing a couple over a petty dispute in 2021 in Rampur locality of the Gorakhpur area in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
The court ordered them to be hanged till death.
Passing the double-death sentences to the trio on 27 April, Fourth Additional Sessions Judge Anil Chaudhary observed that the crime fell under the ‘rarest of rare’ category. The court stated that the manner in which the double murder was committed could send shivers down the spines of people.
According to information, the three convicts, Ravi Kushwaha, Raja Kushwaha and Vinay Kushwaha had a dispute with the family of their neighbor Golu Kushwaha over a drain.
On 14 June 2021, the trio jumped inside Golu Kushwaha’s house after climbing over the common wall separating the two houses. Once inside the house, the three men, armed with knives and sticks, stabbed Golu repeatedly. When his wife tried to save him, the three men grievously wounded her too with knives. They also attacked the couple’s five-year-old son, Pratik, with knives and seriously injured him as well.
Golu’s brother Pushpraj Kushwaha rushed to the rescue of his kin’s family, but the three men stabbed him to death. They also killed Pushpraj’s wife Neelam after inflicting fatal knife wounds on her.
The three assailants were arrested and after a trial based on evidence and witness statements, the court pronounced them guilty of murder and other offences.
The court then awarded double-death sentences under section 302 (murder) of IPC to Ravi Kushwah, Raja Kushwah and Vinay Kushwah after finding them guilty of murdering Pushparaj Kushwah and his wife Neelam Kushwah on the basis of evidence. The court ordered that the three convicts be hanged till death.
The judgement has been referred the case to the high court for approval.