Haryana: Five months after Nikita Tomar’s murder, life sentences for killer & his aide

  • | Saturday | 27th March, 2021

GURUGRAM: A fast-track court on Friday sentenced the two men convicted of killing BCom student Nikita Tomar to life imprisonment, rejecting pleas for leniency by their counsel, who argued the two convicts were young and did not have any previous criminal history.

GURUGRAM: A fast-track court on Friday sentenced the two men convicted of killing BCom student Nikita Tomar to life imprisonment, rejecting pleas for leniency by their counsel, who argued the two convicts were young and did not have any previous criminal history.

The two men, Touseef and Rehan, were held guilty earlier this week under sections 302 (murder), 366 (kidnapping a woman to compel her into marriage), 506 (criminal intimidation), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

Additional sessions judge of the special court, Sartaj Baswana, pronounced his judgement in open court. The judge observed that the convicts cut short the bright future of a young girl and deprived her parents of the love and affection of their daughter. The act presented a wrong example before society and deserved a punishment that sent a strong message to discourage youngsters from even thinking of committing such a crime, the court said, adding the convicts do not deserve any leniency.

Nikita’s killing outside her college on October 26 last year had been captured on CCTV cameras, which showed Touseef shooting at her. Rehan was with Touseef. The footage proved crucial in the case. The court also relied on forensic reports and fingerprints recovered from the car used in the crime.

Nikita’s family said it would approach the high court, seeking capital punishment. Aidal Singh Rawat, counsel for her family and Nikita’s maternal uncle, said they had argued for death sentence for the convicts. “We welcome the court decision and are happy that justice was done in a short period of time, but we are not satisfied with the quantum of punishment. We will approach the Punjab and Haryana High court to convert the life imprisonment into capital punishment,” said Rawat.

A large number of lawyers and reporters were present in court for the judgment in a case, which was keenly watched because of the political row it had triggered. Nikita’s family has alleged that Touseef had been pressuring her to convert to Islam and marry him. A 700-page chargesheet filed by police listing 60 witnesses said Touseef had killed Nikita to take revenge. After she rejected his proposal in 2018, he had allegedly kidnapped her. A case had been registered and withdrawn later after a panchayat was held. Touseef, a cousin of Congress MLA Aftab Ahmed, and Nikita had known each other from school.

Nikita, a final-year student, was killed just outside her college in Ballabhgarh. A third accused, Azaruddin, who was arrested for allegedly supplying weapons to Touseef, was acquitted for lack of evidence.


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