A Saket court pronounced verdict in the Jigisha Ghosh murder case on Thursday and convicted all the three accused under charges of murder and robbery.
The quantum of punishment will be decided in a sentencing on 20 August.
The court has also said that financial aid to Ghosh’s family will be decided after assessing the the family’s financial status.
Responding to the verdict, Jigisha’s parents, who have fought a seven year long fight for justice demanded a death penalty for the murderers.
The guilty should be hanged. The should be given death penalty. We hope justice will be delivered.Jigisha’s mother to CNN News 18
The three accused– Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ravi Kapoor are also the alleged killers of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, who was shot dead in 2008, along with a transporter named Nadeem.
With incessant threat calls and long court proceedings, the last few years have been extremely difficult for Jigisha’s parents, reported The Times of India.
No punishment can give justice to us and our daughter. But least we can wish for is life imprisonment for the killers. I have developed neurological problems and Jigisha’s father, too, has not been keeping well ever since she was murdered. There isn’t a moment when we are not reminded of our daughter and how brutally she was killed.Sabita Ghosh, Jigisha’s mother to The Times of India
“They could have asked us for money, if that is what they wanted. Not just money, they could have asked us for anything they wanted and we would have happily given it to them. Nothing was more precious than her life,” she added.
“We had been receiving calls from unknown numbers for over a fortnight. The person at the other end shouted at us and asked about our whereabouts. All this only stopped earlier this week,” Sabita said.
Jigisha, an operations manager, was killed on the intervening night of 17 and 18 March, 2009. The three accused approached her outside her house under the pretext of asking for an address, and forcefully pulled her inside the car.
Her belongings were snatched, including her debit card, and the trio forced her to divulge her PIN. The three proceeded to withdraw money and smothered her on the way.
After they were arrested, they divulged that they had earlier murdered Vishwanathan and Nadeem on 8 January 2009.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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