JAIPUR: In an unusual development, two convicts in Rajasthan serving life sentences in separate murder cases, who fell in love while in jail, have been granted parole to marry on Thursday.
Priya Seth, also known as Neha Seth, is the main accused in the high-profile Dushyant Sharma murder case and has been granted 15 days of parole to solemnise her marriage. Priya is serving a life sentence in Jaipur for the abduction and murder of Sharma whom she allegedly lured into a relationship through a dating application.
Meanwhile, parole has also been granted to Hanuman Prasad, a life convict in another murder case, who will marry her.
Acting on the directions of the Rajasthan High Court, the District Parole Advisory Committee approved the parole applications of both convicts.
Priya is currently lodged in an open prison in Jaipur, where she came into contact with Prasad. The couple is scheduled to marry in the Baroda Mev area of Alwar district.
The Dushyant Sharma murder case had sent shockwaves across Jaipur due to its meticulous planning and brutal execution. Dushyant, a resident of Jhotwara, was abducted and murdered in 2018.
Investigators found that Priya had trapped him through a dating app and later invited him to her flat in Bajaj Nagar, where her former boyfriend Dikshant Kamra and his associate Lakshya Walia were already present.
According to police, the accused held Dushyant hostage and demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh from his father, Rameshwar Prasad. Although Rs 3 lakh was transferred to Dushyant’s bank account, the trio allegedly panicked and strangled him to death.
In an attempt to conceal his identity, they inflicted stab wounds on his face, stuffed the body into a suitcase and dumped it in the hills of Amer. All the accused were later arrested and convicted.
The investigation revealed that the crime was planned to repay a debt owed by Dikshant Kamra. Police also claimed that Priya Seth had used social media platforms for several years to target affluent individuals and extort money. She was said to have led a lavish lifestyle, marked by high monthly expenses and frequent air travel.
Priya Seth hails from Falna in Pali district and comes from a well-educated, middle-class family. Her father was a lecturer at a government college, her mother a teacher, and her grandfather a former school principal. Academically bright, she performed well in her school examinations and was sent to Jaipur in 2011 to pursue higher studies.
The case drew widespread attention not only for the brutality of the crime but also because it involved a young woman from an academically accomplished family, a fact that left both the public and the police deeply disturbed.