UP: Girl's father, uncle get life term for killing teenage lovers; mother sentenced to 7 years

Bareilly (UP), Dec 12 (PTI) A court in Bareilly has sentenced a man and his brother to life imprisonment for kidnapping and murdering his minor daughter and a teenage boy 10 years ago in a case of honour killing.

The girl's mother has been awarded a seven-year jail term in the case, officials said on Friday.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ)-III Abhay Srivastava convicted Veerpal and his brother Rajendra, both residents of Lodhinagar under Fatehganj (West) police station, and imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh on them.

Veerpal's wife Kamla Devi was sentenced to seven years' of rigorous imprisonment, they said.

According to Additional District Government Counsel (ADGC) Hemendra Gangwar, complainant Kantaprasad, a resident of Lodhinagar, had informed police that his 15-year-old son Deepak Maurya was in a relationship with Veerpal's minor daughter, Javitri. Due to this, Veerpal allegedly bore a grudge against the family.

On the night of March 24, 2015, Deepak had gone to a dinner hosted at the house of Veerpal's tenant, Sonu. From there, Veerpal, with the help of his brother Rajendra and wife Kamla Devi, allegedly abducted him.

Gangwar said Kantaprasad had told the police that Veerpal and his family had murdered both Deepak and his daughter Javitri and hidden their bodies in a forest area. Deepak was bludgeoned while Javitri strangled to death, he said.

A case was registered at Fatehganj (West) police station under erstwhile IPC sections 364, 302, 201, 34 and 120B, he added.

The prosecution presented nine witnesses during the trial.

Delivering the verdict on Friday, ADJ Srivastava convicted Veerpal and Rajendra under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention), sentencing each of them to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 50,000.

They were also awarded seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 each under sections 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence) and 34. In case of non-payment of fine, they will have to undergo an additional one-year imprisonment.

Kamla Devi was convicted under IPC Section 201 and sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000. Failure to pay the fine would result in an additional one-month imprisonment, the court ruled.

Accused Premshankar, Teni alias Narendra, and Rajaram, also residents of Lodhinagar, were acquitted for lack of evidence, Gangwar added. PTI COR KIS NB NB