HYDERABAD: In a rare instance of a woman being awarded capital punishment, a Medchal-Malkajgiri district court on Monday sentenced a brother and sister to death for murdering their father, dismembering his body and concealing the remains in plastic buckets. Their mother was sentenced to life imprisonment for her role in the conspiracy and cover-up. The court held that the crime fell within the “rarest of rare” category.
Medchal-Malkajgiri principal district and sessions judge V Bala Bhaskar Rao pronounced the sentence. The convicts were identified as 47-year-old Kishan Suthar alias Rahul (A1), his 65-year-old mother Ganga Bai (A2), and his 36-year-old sister Prapulla alias Pappi (A3). According to the prosecution, the accused conspired to murder Maruthi Suthar, a retired Railway employee. Evidence presented during the trial showed that they were financially dependent on the deceased, who was receiving a pension after retirement.
The court found that the accused had administered poisonous datura alkaloids to the victim, resulting in his death. During the trial, it emerged that they had been mixing datura extract into his food for several days to test its effects. To conceal the crime, they dismembered the body and stored the remains in six plastic buckets inside their residence.
The crime came to light after neighbours noticed a foul smell from the house and alerted authorities. Police recovered the body parts and gathered forensic and circumstantial evidence linking the accused to the offence.
After examining aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the court concluded that Kishan Suthar and Prapulla deserved the maximum punishment under law. They were sentenced to death and fined Rs 10,000 each for the murder.
Considering her age and other mitigating factors, the court sentenced Ganga Bai to rigorous imprisonment for life and imposed a fine of `10,000. All three convicts were also awarded additional prison terms for criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence, with the sentences directed to run concurrently.