Jailed for high-profile murders, convicts fall in love and now get parole to get married

Jaipur: In the austere confines of Jaipur's open-air prison, two high-profile murder convicts serving life sentences developed a relationship, which will now culminate in a wedding on Friday.

Priya Seth (34) is in jail for trapping a guy on a dating app and later strangling him and stuffing his body into a suitcase. Hanuman Prasad (29) conspired with a woman he was in a relationship with and killed her husband and her kids.

Placed in Sanganer open jail, they fell in love and have decided to get married. Their union, forged within prison walls, follows the grant of a 15-day parole to both convicts earlier this week.

The parole was granted after the Rajasthan High Court on January 7 directed the parole committee to decide on their applications within seven days, their counsel Vishram Prajapat said.

"Acting on the court's order, the committee cleared their release, allowing the pair to step out of prison on Wednesday," he said.

The wedding is scheduled to take place in Barodameo in Alwar district, Prasad's native town. Sources said the two had grown close over the past year while living at the open-air prison, a facility governed by the Rajasthan Prisoners Open Air Camp Rules, 1972, where selected inmates are permitted to work outside during the day and return to the camp by evening.

Seth was convicted for the sensational 2018 Jaipur murder of Dushyant Sharma (27), whose body was found stuffed inside a suitcase on the city's outskirts. Police said she had met the victim through a dating app, held him captive at her rented flat in Bajaj Nagar, killed him, and later disposed of the body. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2023.

Prasad, also convicted in 2023, was found guilty in a 2017 murder case in Alwar involving the killing of a man, his three sons and a nephew. Police said he had developed a relationship with the man's wife, Santosh Sharma, and allegedly conspired with her to murder the family after drugging the victims.

The decision to grant parole, however, has sparked opposition. Sandeep Loharia, counsel for the victim's family in the Dushyant Sharma case, said they would challenge the parole order.

"We were not informed even after parole was granted. We will move the high court against the decision," he said.

While the wedding has drawn public attention for its extraordinary circumstances, prison officials stress that the process followed existing rules. Under the open-air camp system, a six-member committee evaluates eligibility for parole and rehabilitation, an official said.