Two youths sentenced to death for revenge killing

A Nagpur court on Thursday rejected grounds of leniency and sentenced two youths to death for the 2014 kidnapping and killing of a minor in Nagpur.

Principal District and Sessions Judge Kishore Sonowane of the Nagpur court awarded capital punishment to Rajesh Dhanalal Daware (21) and his friend Arvind Abhilash Singh (25) for kidnapping and killing eight-year-old Yug Chandak  on September 1, 2014.

The accused, who are B Com students, were given a fine of Rs 15,000 each. The duo were convicted under IPC sections 364 (a) (kidnapping for ransom), 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

Daware's 17-year old younger brother who assisted the accused in the conspiracy was already referred to Juvenile Remand Board (JJB).

Protests
The murder sparked off protests in Nagpur with people taking out candle light marches and campaigning on social media.

"Close scrutiny of evidence against you proved that your identity was known to the child. You betrayed his trust for seeking revenge on his parents and mercilessly killed him out of greed for becoming rich,” Judge Sonawane said reading out the verdict.

“You then buried his body near nullah at Patansawangi and placed a big stone on it. This all proves your cruel mentality...didn't' happened in spur of the moment, neither there was any provocation,” the judge continued. 

“It was, in fact, a deliberate and well-planned conspiracy hatched after thoughtful process that led to killing of an innocent child."

About 26 injuries were found on Yug's body, including those on the neck. None of the 50 witnesses examined by the prosecution turned hostile. Additional Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani, Chandak family's counsel Rajendra Daga and Investigation Officer (IO) from Lakadganj Police Station Satyanarayan Jaiswal, had appeared before the court.