A Saharanpur court sentenced six members of a family, including a father-son duo, to life imprisonment in a 12-year-old murder case. The court also imposed a collective fine of ₹1.62 lakh on the convicts.
The verdict was delivered on Friday by additional sessions judge Vikas Gupta, who relied on documentary evidence and eyewitness testimonies while dismissing the defence arguments. The court said though the case did not fall under the “rarest of rare” category to merit a death sentence, it warranted life imprisonment.
According to additional district government counsel (ADGC) Deepak Saini, the incident occurred in Amoli village under Rampur Maniharan police station on May 4, 2013, when a local resident, Dheer Singh, was clubbed to death during a violent clash.
The FIR was filed by Shivlal, the brother of the victim, alleging that a quarrel broke out between children from two families, leading to an argument among the women.
What began as a minor domestic dispute soon escalated into a violent clash. Manga alias Mangeram, along with other family members, armed with sticks and batons, allegedly barged into Shivlal’s home and launched an assault, according to the FIR.
In the attack, Dheer Singh sustained severe injuries. He was rushed to the district hospital, where he succumbed during treatment. Police arrested all the accused and initiated a legal process that culminated into this verdict after over a decade.
The convicts include Manga alias Mangeram, his brothers Rajesh and Rajendra, his sons Pradeep and Praveen, and Rajesh’s wife Savita. Their arrest was followed by a prolonged legal trial during which the testimonies of seven key eyewitnesses played a pivotal role.
The court considered the witness statements critical and overruled the defence claims that the incident was a spontaneous domestic dispute without homicidal intent. The defence also argued that the accused had no motive and that they stood to gain nothing from Dheer Singh’s death. However, citing strong evidence and witness accounts, the court rejected all such arguments.
“The six accused formed an unlawful group and, in furtherance of a common objective, inflicted fatal injuries on Dheer Singh. However, the circumstances do not qualify under the Supreme Court’s guidelines for the rarest of rare cases,” the court said while awarding life sentence to all six accused.