LUCKNOW: A court in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district has sentenced a 24-year-old man to death for killing his one-and-a-half-year-old nephew by repeatedly slamming him against the ground after the child's mother allegedly rejected his marriage proposal.
District and Sessions Judge Babbu Sarang convicted Jitendra Pathak alias Viraj on Thursday and awarded him the death sentence on Friday. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000.
According to Firozabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Aditya Langeh, the incident took place on May 30 in Yadav Colony in Shikohabad. Police said Viraj killed his nephew, Aarav, by repeatedly slamming him onto the road after his sister-in-law, Rati, allegedly turned down his proposal to marry her. He later carried the child's body on his shoulder.
Viraj was arrested the same day. During the investigation, he allegedly told police that he wanted to marry his brother's wife and viewed the couple's son as an obstacle to his plans.
During the trial, the prosecution examined 13 witnesses on behalf of the child's mother, while the defence produced one witness.
In the sentencing order, the court described the crime as "heinous, gruesome, unprovoked, cold-blooded and brutal", observing that the accused repeatedly slammed the child on the road and even checked whether he had died.
"The fear developed in society can only be removed by giving the severest punishment to the accused. Otherwise, society will remain in fear that such a brutal killing ends with a simple punishment," the judge said.
The court further noted that the murder of the innocent child had created an irreparable void in the lives of both parents, and held that the case fell within the category warranting the harshest punishment.
