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Man gets death sentence for killing wife, children

NEW DELHI: A court here on Saturday sentenced a man to death for the murder of his wife and three minor children in a hotel near Old Delhi railway station in 2005. Describing the act as “rarest of the rare”, Additional Sessions Judge B.R. Kedia sentenced Raj Kumar Khandelwal to be hanged till death.

The court observed that the victims in the case were innocent, helpless and defenceless and that they could not have provided any excuse, much less a provocation, for such an act. Further, the court said the accused was supposed to protect the victims, even at the cost of his own life, but suddenly took a reverse turn and did not hesitate to take their lives. The act of the convict was of extreme depravity and not only inhuman and barbaric but also an affront to human dignity, the court said.

The court rejected the defence plea for leniency saying the convict acted in a calculative manner. The sentence will be effective subject to confirmation by the Delhi High Court.

According to the prosecution, Khandelwal, a businessman from Gaya in Bihar, had come to Delhi in July 2005 along with his wife, Anita, and three minor daughters – Alisha, Jyoti and Chhama – ostensibly on a vacation. They checked into Hotel Gautam near Old Delhi railway station.

On the night of July 4-5, Khandelwal mixed poison in the milk for his family members and then strangled them.

Khandelwal had taken a loan of Rs.12 lakh from Canara Bank for a business venture but had suffered losses due to financial mismanagement.

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