Death sentence awarded to domestic help in double murder case

A Delhi court today awarded death penalty to a domestic help for murdering an elderly woman and her 12-year-old grandson here in 2007 holding that the offence fell in the category of "rarest of rare" case.

Additional sessions judge SK Sarvaria rejected the plea of leniency by the convict Mithilesh Kumar Singh and said "his act does not deserve lenient punishment".

The court had on July 1 convicted him for the offences of murder, attempt to murder, robbery and for destroying evidence under the IPC.

Singh, a resident of Samastipur in Bihar, killed Karamveer (12) and his maternal grandmother Surjit Kaur, 60, in their house at Vasant Kunj in south Delhi on March 2, 2007.

The convict, who was working as a domestic help, sedated
their pet dog and killed them before decamping with valuables,
and cash.

He was apprehended with the help of Mehar Legha, 15, sister of the deceased boy. 

The girl, who was also attacked by the domestic help, had
raised an alarm which led to the accused being apprehended.

The girl was later honoured with the national bravery award in 2008.

Besides Mehar, her mother Manjit Legha, a teacher of Delhi Public School, Noida, and her husband, a retired army officer, had also testified in the case.