Pratibha murder case verdict now on Sept 27

The case was being heard by the 11th Fast Track Court of Justice B B Gudali. The hearing of the case was wound up on September 8 and the final verdict was to come on Friday. But the judge deferred the pronouncement of the verdict to September 27.

Pratibha, a call centre employee with Global Software, was killed on the night of December 13, 2005, when she took the office cab to reach her workplace. The cab driver Shivakumar allegedly drove her to a secluded place on Kanakapura Road where he sexually assaulted her before murdering her. He was later arrested by the police.

The court is likely to take seriously the DNA report that proved that Shivakumar had sexually assaulted Pratibha before killing her. Also, there is proof against Shivakumar, who was seen taking Pratibha in the cab by one of her relatives.

So far, three judges have held trial in the case, details of which were sought even by the Karnataka High Court. During the hearing, the public prosecutor of the case had sought capital punishment for the accused, arguing the case fell into the rarest of the rare category.

Gauramma, Pratibha’s mother, who was present for every hearing on the case, also felt Shivakumar deserved the  maximum punishment for committing the crime.