JOIN USA youth was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for stabbing a vegetable shop owner to death.
Additional sessions judge Vijay Kumar Dahiya awarded the jail term to Pankaj for stabbing Dharmender, a vegetable seller in Mahavir Enclave in west Delhi, over a tiff on payment for tomatoes eaten by the convict and his friends from the victim’s shop.
The court rejected the prosecution’s plea for capital punishment, saying the case does not fall under the ‘rarest of rare’ category. The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict.
According to the prosecution, the victim and his brother Rajesh were in their shop on May 4, 2010 night when three boys, including Pankaj, came there and began eating tomatoes.
They refused to pay and started abusing Dharmender when he objected to it. The matter was resolved after some nearby shop owners intervened.
Later, while Dharmender was going home, the trio stabbed him some distance away from the shop, the prosecution said.
2 yrs for molesting minor
A youth has been sentenced to two years in jail by a Delhi court for molesting an eight-year-old girl. Additional sessions judge Kamini Lau sentenced Delhi resident Sikander for molesting the girl, who had come here to see her ailing sister living as a tenant in the convict’s house at Sultanpuri.
The court refused to show leniency to the 19-year-old youth, a first-time convict, saying his intention was to rape the minor, but she was saved by her mother. “I hold that he is not entitled to any leniency,” the judge said.
Police said the incident took place on February 14 this year when the girl was playing outside the house during a power cut in the area. Sikander lured her to his room and tried to rape her, but she cried for help, prompting her mother to rush to her aid, police told the court.