GHAZIABAD: A man and his parents were sentenced to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 36,000 each after an additional sessions court in Ghaziabad found them guilty of murder and dowry harassment.The convicts were also sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment for concealment of evidence as they had severed the victim’s head and chopped off both her palms to avoid identification before throwing her body into Ganga canal in 2022.Additional sessions judge Jeetendra Mishra said, “After considering all the facts and circumstances of the case, including the nature of the crime committed, the circumstances of the crime, the social impact of the crime, and the impact on the victim, the court finds it justified to sentence the convicts for a life term in prison with a fine of Rs 25,000 each under IPC section 302 (murder) read with section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention),” the judge said. All the sentences are to run concurrently and be adjusted against time already spent in jail – while the victim’s husband was in custody for three years, his parents were out on bail after one year.The three were also fined Rs 10,000 each under IPC section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and Rs 1,000 each under Dowry Prohibition Act section 4.
Woman’s family alleged Rs 1 lakh dowry demand
Siddhartha Vihar residents Akash Tyagi, his father Suresh and mother Usha were arrested for the murder of Riya Jain on Jan 26, 2022, after the woman’s uncle Vipin Kumar submitted a missing complaint.Kumar claimed that the 22-year-old had not been responding to phone calls for two days and her in-laws had been stonewalling questions about her whereabouts. Riya’s family also blamed the Tyagis for demanding Rs 1 lakh in dowry since her marriage in March 2021.
Husband claimed four men kidnapped wife, mother
Police said Akash initially told cops that Riya and his mother Usha were kidnapped from outside an ultrasound clinic, Arjun Diagnostic Centre, by four men. He said the men had thrown Usha off the vehicle after a few kilometres but sped off with his wife. Akash had also told the cops that Riya was taken to the clinic as she had complained of a stomach ache but the centre was closed on that day.Suresh, however, had told cops that the family had taken Riya to a sugarcane field in Shahzadpur jungle from the clinic and decapitated her. They also chopped off her palms and threw the severed parts in Ganga canal in Muradnagar.
Police recovered beheaded body, weapon
While cops did not find the severed limbs, they found the beheaded body in the jungle, recovered a dagger used in the crime and blood-stained clothes belonging to Usha and eventually filed a charge sheet against the three under IPC sections 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 304-B (dowry death), 201 and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) IPC on April 26, 2022, and under alternative IPC sections 302 read with 34. The additional sessions court framed charges against the trio on Dec 23, 2025.
DNA evidence, recovery of weapon established involvement: Court
During the course of the trial the court found Akash’s account of abduction by unknown persons was inconsistent with other established evidence. The court cited the woman going to the ultrasound centre with the accused and going missing, the kidnapping story, and the recovery of the body and weapon on Suresh’s indication. It also cited human blood on the weapon, the recovery of her phone, and a jacket with biological material recovered, whose DNA profile matched the woman’s.“All these circumstances together form a complete chain which establishes beyond doubt the involvement of each of the accused in the crime,” the court said.
