Mumbai, Oct 15 A Mumbai court on Thursday sentenced a domestic help and her male accomplice to life imprisonment for robbery and murder of an octogenarian couple at their residence in upscale Bandra area here in 2018.
The prosecution has “succeeded in establishing the fact” that the duo, in furtherance of their common intention, robbed the victims’ house and later committed their murder, said the court of Additional Sessions Judge V B Bohra.
The court, however, turned down the prosecution’s plea seeking capital punishment for the accused considering that the case was “based on circumstantial evidence” and “does not fall within the rarest of rare” category.
The accused, domestic help Parvati K Khaka and her male associate Singhasan Mukut Ekka, then-aged 20 and 26, respectively, and both originally hailing from Odisha, were convicted under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder) and 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) by Judge Bohra.
The victims, Nanak Gopaldas Makhijani (85) and his wife Daya (81), were found dead at their apartment in the Ekta Elight building in Bandra (West) on the morning of June 21, 2018.
According to the prosecution, Khaka also worked as a caretaker for the elderly couple, a job she got just 15 days prior to the incident.
On June 20 night, Khaka facilitated her accomplice Ekka’s entry into the residential building and the victims’ flat where the elderly couple was smothered and strangled to death, with their hands and faces tied using an ‘odhani’ (stole), police said.
The accused then ransacked the cupboards and made off with jewellery and cash. They fled the city early next morning, but were apprehended at Nagpur station from the general coach of the Mumbai-Howrah Gitanjali Express while attempting to escape to their native place in Odisha, they said.
The police later recovered stolen ornaments and cash from their luggage.
The court, after taking into account the evidence on record, held that the ‘circumstances and conduct of the accused persons clearly show their involvement in the crime”.
“The prosecution has succeeded in establishing the chain of circumstances, as per the guidelines laid down by the court,” it observed.
During the sentencing phase, the prosecution sought the death penalty for the accused, arguing the cold-blooded murder of helpless senior citizens by a trusted servant fell under the “rarest of rare” category.
Opposing the prosecution plea, the defence contended the conviction was based on circumstantial evidence and cited the accused persons’ young age, good conduct in jail, and chances of reformation.
After hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence, the court observed that handing life imprisonment to the duo would suffice to meet the ends of justice.
(PTI News)
