Cal HC commutes death penalty, sentences ‘guru’ to life term for murdering woman, daughter

Kolkata, Sep 21 (PTI) A man who murdered a woman and her daughter after they realised they were duped of over Rs one lakh on his false promise to cure the latter of her ailments, got his death sentence commuted by the Calcutta High Court to life imprisonment without remission for 40 years.

The man, Sunil Das alias “Gurudev”, had failed to cure the 17-year-old daughter of burn-related injuries after having taken Rs 83,000 on the pretext of performing 'yagna' (a fire ritual) for the purpose.

Das was found guilty of rape, murder and causing disappearance of evidence by the Rampurhat sessions court in Birbhum district in August 2023.

He was sentenced to death for the May 17, 2020, murder of the two women, life sentence for the rape of the daughter, and seven years' rigorous imprisonment for causing the disappearance of evidence by the trial court.

The high court, however, found him not guilty of rape, for which he was convicted.

Upholding Das' conviction for murder and disappearance of evidence, a division bench comprising justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi commuted his death penalty to life imprisonment without remission for 40 years.

Considering the age of Das, who is 45 years old, as well as the fact that he "habitually engaged himself in extracting money from unsuspecting members of society on the plea of curing diseases or bestowing corporeal and incorporeal benefits as Gurubaba," the division bench also said, "The society at large requires to be protected from the appellant for a considerable length of time.

"For such reason, the imprisonment of life so awarded to the appellant shall mean imprisonment for life without remission until 40 years from the date of his arrest," the high court said in its judgment on September 18.

It noted that though it was a heinous crime, it did not fall under the cut of the rarest of rare category and that the state government could not establish that the convict was beyond reform.

"We are not in a position to arrive at a definite finding that any punishment other than the death penalty would be insufficient and the possibility of such punishment is absolutely foreclosed," the court said.

Milon Mondal, the husband of the murdered woman, was initially arrested on the charge of the twin murders on a complaint by her sister, but the police, upon investigation, found the involvement of Das.

Mondal was not charge-sheeted by the police and was not forwarded for trial for the crime.

The husband had testified before the trial court that he came in contact with Das during a train journey in course of treatment of his daughter who had suffered burn injuries earlier.

Das assured him of curing his daughter and took him to a doctor at Sainthia. Thereafter, he started visiting the residence of Mondal often for the purpose of performing rituals to cure her.

It was stated that Das demanded a sum of Rs 1.61 lakh for performing the rituals and providing medicines to cure his daughter, out of which Rs 83,000 was already paid to him between November 2019 and March 2020.

The court noted that Das, who appealed before the high court against his conviction by the trial court, came to the house of Mondal with a vessel of water on May 17, 2020, and asked his wife to prepare a paste of cashew nuts, which she made and gave to the appellant.

A yagna was performed by Das in a ground floor room in Mondal's residence and thereafter he offered them to eat the cashewnut paste as prasad.

It was stated that Das had mixed strong sedatives with the paste and upon eating, the mother and daughter fell asleep on the first floor, and Mondal on the ground floor.

Mondal was later woken up by Das and was asked to accompany him outside to bring flowers for performing a puja, without seeing the faces of his family members, as part of the ritual to cure his daughter of the burn-related injuries that she suffered three years earlier.

Mondal stated that he was informed of the death of his wife and daughter by the priest of a temple, and thereafter, he went directly to the local police station.

The testimony of Mondal was corroborated by two neighbours, the court noted.

They narrated in detail what the appellant described how he perpetrated the incident during the reconstruction of the crime scene. The reconstruction by Das was videographed and was admitted in evidence before the trial court.

Das was arrested two months after the crime and was sent to trial.

Taking into account the poor financial background of the appellant, who has a family comprising his wife and two children, the high court commuted the death sentence awarded to Das for murder. PTI AMR NN