BENGALURU: A city court has sentenced four people to life imprisonment for brutally murdering a manager of a private bank in Electronic City a decade ago.The 55th Additional City Civil and Sessions court convicted Subbanna (62), Madhusudan (38), residents of Laggere, S Ambika (35), resident of Byaramangala in Bidadi hobli and Babu Reddy (34), resident of Basavanagudi for the murder and other offences on February 17 and sentenced them on Friday. Three accused — S Navya, Bhagyamma and Shankara Reddy — were acquitted by the court for lack of evidence.
The court has sentenced them to a lifetime in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each, under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. They also got additional three years in jail and will have to pay fine of Rs 10,000 each for offence under Section 201 (tampering with evidence) read with Section 34 (common intention). This apart, they also got five-year imprisonment and are liable to pay Rs 20,000 each for offence under Section 364 (kidnapping) read with Section 34 of the IPC.
However, the court said that all sentences would run concurrently and would include pre-trial detention if any.The 55th Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge K Narayana Prasad said that Vinay, the 26-year-old bank manager, was killed over vengeance. He was assaulted, strangulated and his body was thrown into Vrushabhavathi river after his clothes were ripped off. The prosecution showed that the man’s genitals were severely injured by Ambika. “There is no missing element in the events cited by the prosecution”, the judge said.
Navya and Vinay were classmates during their M Com course. They loved each other but their families were against their marriage. Later Navya’s family started putting pressure on Vinay’s family to arrange their wedding. The two families quarrelled and ultimately Navya married another person, who was also one of the accused, on December 3, 2010.
The next day, on learning of Navya’s wedding, Vinay went to the house of one of the accused in Rajagopala Nagara police station limits on December 4, 2010. Vinay was murdered and his body dumped into the Vrushabhavathi river near Bidadi.
Police later received a complaint that Vinay had been kidnapped and recovered his motorbike from near the house of the accused, which later helped them solve the case. Eyewitnesses clearly stated that the accused packed up the deceased into a car after they beat him up indiscriminately.
Carelessness
The judge took the investigating officer to task, as some of the blood-stained clothes had not been sent for forensic analysis. “The said aspect is a very serious matter and it shows the carelessness of the investigating officer. The negligence of such officers should not affect the merits of the case”, the judge said.
Compensation
The court recommended that the Legal Services Authority award compensation to Rajappa and Roppa, Vinay’s parents, under the Victim Compensation Scheme. The court has ordered that a sum of Rs 75,000 be paid to each parent of the deceased as compensation out of the fine amount. The remaining amount collected from them must be remitted to the state.