More than 11 years after a Delhi Police constable was fatally stabbed in front of a brothel in Central Delhi's G B Road, a court here has sentenced four convicts to life imprisonment for his murder, saying the offence was "heinous, diabolical and barbaric".
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Kumar Kharta was hearing the arguments on sentencing against the four persons -- Ashish Bahuguna alias Ashu, Suraj, Manoj and Aakash -- who were convicted under various Indian Penal Code offences, including murder and attempt to commit murder.
According to the prosecution, the four accused had fatally stabbed constable Bijender besides causing stab injuries to two people -- Irshad and constable Sandeep -- on the intervening night of September 10 and 11, 2012.
"Offences committed by the convicts are heinous, diabolical and barbaric. The trauma of the family members of deceased Bijender who was working as a constable in Delhi Police and the trauma of constable Sandeep Kumar and Irshad can be understood," the court said in an order passed on April 8.
It said though the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances, the present case was not within the purview of the 'rarest of rare' doctrine.
Noting the evidence before it, the court sentenced the four convicts to life imprisonment under Indian Penal Code Sections of 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention).
Suraj was also convicted under the Arms Act for possessing a button-actuated knife and sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment (RI).
The court also sentenced them to RI of seven years for their common intention in attempting to murder constable Kumar and Irshad.
The accused were also sentenced to five years of RI for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to public servants and two more years of RI for assaulting or using criminal force to deter public servants and simple imprisonment of three months for obstructing public servants.
All the sentences will run concurrently, the court said.
