Srinagar, Oct 15: A Srinagar court has convicted a man, his mother and brother in the June 2022 murder of a woman at her matrimonial home in Bemina, holding that medical evidence, a history of alleged harassment and the circumstances surrounding her death established their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Two other accused were acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence.
Additional Sessions Judge Farooq Ahmad Bhat sentenced Hafeeza Begum, Parveez Ahmad Dar alias Bilal and Shahnawaz Ahmad Dar, residents of Nund-Reshi Colony-B, Bemina, to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000 each for murder committed as part of a criminal conspiracy.
The court also directed that, in default of payment of the fine, each convict would undergo an additional six months of imprisonment. The period of detention undergone during investigation and trial will be counted towards their sentences under Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The three were convicted under Section 302 read with Section 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) through a judgment delivered on October 13, 2026, in connection with FIR No. 109 of 2022 registered at Police Station Batmaloo under Sections 498-A, 302, 120-B and 201 of the IPC.
During the sentencing proceedings, the prosecution sought the death penalty, describing the killing as gruesome and arguing that the victim had been smothered to death. The prosecution submitted that the circumstances of the crime were exceptionally brutal and that the aggravating factors outweighed any mitigating circumstances.
The prosecution further argued that the victim was the wife of one of the convicts and had shared a close family relationship with the others for nearly a decade. It contended that the circumstances of the murder warranted the maximum punishment and that capital punishment was necessary in the interests of justice.
After hearing the prosecution and examining the applicable legal principles, the court referred to Supreme Court judgments in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab and Machhi Singh v. State of Punjab, which lay down the principles governing the imposition of the death penalty.
The court observed that sentencing requires a careful balance between aggravating and mitigating circumstances. After weighing the circumstances of the case, Judge Bhat held that the offence did not meet the legal threshold of a “rarest of rare” case.
“I do not think that this case falls within the definition of ‘rarest of rare cases’ warranting the imposition of the death penalty,” the court observed, adding that life imprisonment was sufficient for the offence.
The order records that the defence counsel did not appear to advance arguments on the quantum of sentence, while the three convicts participated in the proceedings through video conferencing from Central Jail, Srinagar.
The court directed that copies of the judgment and sentencing order be provided to the convicts free of cost and informed them of their right to challenge the conviction and sentence before the High Court. A copy of the order was also directed to be sent to the District Magistrate, Srinagar for information.
