Jigisha Ghosh murder case: Two convicts awarded death penalty, one sentenced to life term

A Delhi court on Monday awarded death penalty to two convicts and life term to another in 2009 Jigisha Ghosh murder case.

Convicts Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla were sentenced to death and Baljeet Malik to life term.

"Convicts carried out the murder in a barbaric and uncivilized manner. The level, degree and gravity of the brutality makes it fall under the category of rarest of rare care," additional session judge Sanjeev Yadav said.

The three convicts are also accused of murdering television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan on September 30, 2008 while she was returning home from her office.

Jigisha, 28, was working with Hewitt Associate Pvt Ltd as an operations manager, was abducted and killed on March 18, 2009, after she was dropped near her home in Vasant Vihar area of South Delhi by her official cab around 4 am.

The trial had begun on April 15, 2010 with examination of her father as the first prosecution witness.

The court had framed charges against the accused under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act, dealing with murder, criminal conspiracy, abduction, robbery, forgery and using firearms.

The recovery of the weapon allegedly used in the murder of Jigisha also led to the cracking of the Soumya murder case.

Defence lawyers had sought lenient punishment for the convicts citing their family situation. However, Savita Ghosh, Jigisha's mother, had said that the accused have committed cold-blooded murder, and therefore, should be given the death sentence.