Life sentence given to child killer kept intact
Shimla. The State High Court has upheld the life sentence awarded to the murderer of a 7-year-old child. The division bench of the High Court rejected the appeal of a resident of Sitamarhi district, Bihar. The court said that the trial court has given the correct verdict for the crime of murder on the basis of evidence. The decision of Additional Sessions Judge Hamirpur was challenged through an appeal before the High Court.
The trial court had convicted Nagendra Ram alias Mukesh for the crime of murder of a 7-year-old child. For this crime, the trial court had sentenced him to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 15,000. The High Court, after perusing the records related to the case, found that Nagendra Ram was seen with a 7-year-old child on the day of the incident. This child was the son of his wife’s sister, who was a student of second class in Government Primary School, Seri Nadaun. On October 18, 2016, the child went to school but did not return. His father searched for the child at his level but could not find him.
The woman running a shop outside the school told him that she had seen the child going towards Labor Chowk with convict Nagendra after school. The child’s father and convict Nagendra seem to be in a relationship. So he asked the accused where the child was, but the accused denied meeting the child.
The child’s father lodged a written complaint about the child’s disappearance on the same evening. The search for the child continued on October 19 also. After investigation, two witnesses in the case told that they had seen an abandoned school bag on the water tank. The child’s father claimed the bag belonged to his missing son. He saw his child’s slippers floating on water. After informing the police, the tank was emptied, in which the child’s body was recovered.
An FIR was registered in the matter on 23 October. Police investigation found the involvement of accused Nagendra. A case was registered against the culprit under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. On the basis of the statements given by 31 witnesses presented by the prosecution, the trial court had sentenced Nagendra to life imprisonment, which was upheld by the High Court.
