Delhi temple priests get lifer for for killing destitute boy

Additional Sessions Judge Dinesh Kumar Sharma also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on Ram Prakash alias Munna Tyagi and Ram Mohan for killing 12-year-old Ballu. He, however, did not accept the prosecution's plea seeking death penalty for the duo.

"The convicts deserve exemplary punishment as they were working as 'pujari' (priest) and the deceased was an innocent boy, who had probably taken shelter in the temple," the prosecutor had argued.

In a case based on circumstantial evidence, the court took note of the conduct of the accused after the incident and lent credence to the prosecution's claim that they had committed the offence.

"The conduct of accused Ram Prakash...also indicates towards his culpability. Failure to put forward any explanation of absconding after occurrence is a point in favour of prosecution," the court said.

It also gave weightage to the testimony of key witness Rishi Raj who testified that he had left the victim, a resident of Bulandsehar in Uttar Pradesh, with the accused on the evening of March 22, 2003 at the temple in Vasant Kunj area here.

The half-burnt body of victim was found next morning."I consider that the theory of last seen can very well come into play here as the time gap is such that there is no possibility of any other person other than the accused being the author of the crime," it said.

The court, however, rejected the police claim that the boy was killed as accused Ram Praksh suspected that the victim came to know about his complicity in previous murders.
"I consider that the prosecution has proved the entire circumstances and fully established the same which are consistent only with the hypothesis of guilt of the accused excluding the innocence of the accused. The chain of evidence is so complete that it does not lead to any reasonable doubt," it said