Death sentence for Guwahati youth for killing his lover

A fast track court here on Saturday pronounced death sentence to youth here and life terms to his mother and sister, who were found guilty of killing a college girl inside their house in December 2017.

Half-burnt and half-covered body of the victim, Sweta Agarwal was found in the house of her boyfriend Govind Singhal on December 4, where she was taken after her college examination.

The court judgment says that the accused had attacked her with a sharp weapon after she refused an early marriage, and then poured kerosene and set her on fire with the help of his mother and sister to give it the colour of a suicide. He even carried her body in his motorcycle and dumped in a garbage bin but later brought it back to his home. Govind's mother then called the victim's family informing that she had committed suicide inside their home.

The court of sessions judge, Kamrup (metro) justice A Chakraborty earlier convicted the three under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 320 (murder) and 201(destruction of evidence) of IPC.

Sweta, who topped the Class XII (commerce) examination conducted by the state board in 2015 was even felicitated by the then chief minister and the governor. The sensational murder triggered protests and people demanded a fast-track trial.

The court ordered the government agencies to compensate the victim's family. The victim's family expressed satisfaction over the verdict, while the accused's lawyer said they would challenge it in a higher court.