A roadside vendor has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court for killing his neighbouring sweetmeat seller by smashing his head with a rock in a fight over space for their respective stalls.
Additional sessions judge Kamini Lau sentenced Ram Surat, 41, holding him guilty of killing the sweetmeat seller saying he committed the murder “in cold blood” without any provocation or giving an opportunity to the victim to defend himself.
“The mitigating factor in the present case is that the convict is a first-time offender and has no previous criminal record. The aggravating factors are that the convict committed the murder in cold blood without any instigation and even before the deceased could respond or save himself.”
“Having considered the aggravating and mitigating factors, I am of the view that the case does not fall within the category of rarest of rare crime. Convict Ram Surat is hereby sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 50,000 for the offence under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code,” the court said.
The convict was arrested on the complaint of victim’s son-in-law Manoj Kumar Shah who had alleged that on April 15, 2011, he saw Ram beating up and battering the victim’s head with a rock.
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