Delhi court convicts three men in Jigisha murder caseQuantum of sentence to be announced on August 20
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A Delhi court on Thursday convicted three men for abducting and murdering IT professional Jigisha Ghosh in 2009. The quantum of sentence will be announced on August 20.
Jigisha’s parents Jagannath and Savita told DH that they were happy to finally conclude their seven-year long journey for justice during which they were also threatened and forced to compromise.
Saket Court’s Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav said it was “abundantly clear” that Amit Kumar Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ravi Kapoor had killed the 28-year-old. They have been held guilty for murder, abduction, robbery and forgery. The three men are also accused of killing journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in 2008.
Jigisha, who worked with a management consulting firm, was abducted at gunpoint after she was dropped by her office cab near her Vasant Vihar house in March 2009. She was forced into a Hyundai Santro car and made to reveal ATM PIN.
After three days, her body was recovered in Haryana’s Faridabad district. Shukla, Malik and Kapoor were nabbed a week after the murder.
They were seen on CCTV cameras withdrawing cash using Jigisha’s ATM card and shopping in south Delhi.
The court in its order on Thursday said circumstantial evidence makes it clear that they committed the crime.
“There is no missing link of crime (and) hence innocence is ruled out. It stands proved on record that Jigisha did not return home on expected time on the day of incident. The three convicts abducted Jigisha, robbed her of her gold chain, mobile phones, rings and debit and credit cards and killed her,” Judge Sandeep Yadav said. Seeking a death sentence, Jigisha's mother Savita said that she can never forget the day when her body was found dumped in bushes.
“Jigisha had left for office at around 7 pm on March 17, 2009 and was expected to return home by 4 am next day. They killed our daughter in cold blood,” Savita added. Her father Jagannath had then registered a missing complaint with Vasant Vihar police station.
“The local police had initially refused to file an FIR,” Jagannath alleged. The trial began almost a year after in April 2010 with Jagannath’s examination as the first prosecution witness.
The court had reserved the verdict after hearing final arguments of the prosecutor and defence counsel on July 5.
Jigisha’s parents Jagannath and Savita told DH that they were happy to finally conclude their seven-year long journey for justice during which they were also threatened and forced to compromise.
Saket Court’s Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav said it was “abundantly clear” that Amit Kumar Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ravi Kapoor had killed the 28-year-old. They have been held guilty for murder, abduction, robbery and forgery. The three men are also accused of killing journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in 2008.
Jigisha, who worked with a management consulting firm, was abducted at gunpoint after she was dropped by her office cab near her Vasant Vihar house in March 2009. She was forced into a Hyundai Santro car and made to reveal ATM PIN.
After three days, her body was recovered in Haryana’s Faridabad district. Shukla, Malik and Kapoor were nabbed a week after the murder.
They were seen on CCTV cameras withdrawing cash using Jigisha’s ATM card and shopping in south Delhi.
The court in its order on Thursday said circumstantial evidence makes it clear that they committed the crime.
“There is no missing link of crime (and) hence innocence is ruled out. It stands proved on record that Jigisha did not return home on expected time on the day of incident. The three convicts abducted Jigisha, robbed her of her gold chain, mobile phones, rings and debit and credit cards and killed her,” Judge Sandeep Yadav said. Seeking a death sentence, Jigisha's mother Savita said that she can never forget the day when her body was found dumped in bushes.
“Jigisha had left for office at around 7 pm on March 17, 2009 and was expected to return home by 4 am next day. They killed our daughter in cold blood,” Savita added. Her father Jagannath had then registered a missing complaint with Vasant Vihar police station.
“The local police had initially refused to file an FIR,” Jagannath alleged. The trial began almost a year after in April 2010 with Jagannath’s examination as the first prosecution witness.
The court had reserved the verdict after hearing final arguments of the prosecutor and defence counsel on July 5.