A local court on Saturday awarded the death penalty to a man convicted of murdering his girlfriend, who was a Class 12 topper, 20 months ago.
The court also sentenced the man’s mother Kamla Devi, and his sister Bhawani, to life imprisonment for abetting him in the murder of Shweta Agarwal on December 4, 2017. The trio was convicted on July 30.
Shweta was found dead at the house of Govind Singhal, her boyfriend. After investigation, the police concluded that Singhal had murdered her.
Singhal had taken Shweta to his rented accommodation in the Shantipur locality of the city. Following a quarrel over the issue of their marriage, Singhal, in a fit of anger, had pushed her so hard that she hit her head against a wall, lost consciousness and died.
Police said Singhal had initially tried to dump the body but had instead ended up setting it on fire in the bathroom. “His mother and sister said they were not at home when the crime was committed but we found gaps in the statements given by the three convicts,” an investigating officer said.
“I am happy that our daughter has received justice after so many months,” Shweta’s father Om Prakash Agarwal told mediapersons. “But all three should have been given the death penalty,” he added.
Shweta, who was a college student when she was killed, had been a topper in the Commerce stream of the Class 12 exam in 2015.
