Life sentence for man who killed Juhu resident with help of juvenile
Mumbai: The sessions court sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing a 50-year-old Juhu resident, with the help of his brother, who was a juvenile at the time of committing the crime and worked as a domestic help at the house of the victim
Mumbai: The sessions court sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing a 50-year-old Juhu resident, with the help of his brother, who was a juvenile at the time of committing the crime and worked as a domestic help at the house of the victim. Both the accused were booked for murdering the woman by strangulating her and fleeing with valuables worth ₹70 lakh. The minor was tried separately.
Principle sessions judge A Subramaniam observed “It is a cold-blooded, planned murder of a lady for monetary gains. In fact, it is a murder of the hands that fed the family of the child in conflict.”
Referring to the act, the judge noted in his order, “The entire evidence on record clearly shows that the offence was committed in a very planned manner. The time period chosen for the commission of offence, the knowledge of the entire schedule of the person coming to the house of the deceased and other circumstances considered while commission of the offence, clearly establish that it was committed in a pre-planned cold-blooded manner.”
On February 23, 2015, when Juhu resident Minoti Parikh was alone at home, the house help (who was declared juvenile subsequently) and his elder brother tied her and strangulated her. It was revealed that Minoti had asked her husband to send a cheque book. When the husband’s driver came to deliver it, the house help (minor accused) collected it and informed him that Minoti was in the bathroom.
Later, when the cook visited the house, he received no response. Besides, the watchman had claimed that neither the house help nor Minoti had left the house. When they asked the complainant – Hemal Parikh – daughter-in-law of Minoti to check, she found her mother-in-law’s body on the floor with her hands and legs tied. A survey of the house revealed that jewellery and other valuables were missing. Thereafter, a case was registered with Juhu police station.
During the probe, police arrested the house help, who was later found to be juvenile and his elder brother. They were arrested from Delhi with the stolen articles. As the house help was found to be a juvenile, his case was separated. His case was referred to juvenile justice board where he pleaded guilty.
The court heavily relied on the circumstances, whereby the accused had disappeared from Mumbai soon after committing the act and the stolen articles were found in his possession. The court also took note of the fact that the accused could not have succeeded without the house help, who was present in the house at the time of the crime. The court also relied on the fact that the house help – younger brother of the accused — had already pleaded guilty.
