Allahabad HC Upholds Death Sentence Of Man For Murdering His Own Kin, Including Octogenarian Parents [Read Judgment]

The dastardly act of wiping out the entire family therefore falls within the category of “rarest of rare cases” where passing of a death sentence is of greatest concern in order to keep the faith of people alive in the law of the land, the bench said.

The Allahabad High Court has confirmed death sentence awarded to a man holding him guilty of murdering his octogenarian parents, brother and his wife, minor nephew and niece.

A bench of Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Rajeev Misra also confirmed death penalty of other accused, who are also part of the larger family, involved in this incident. However, the sole lady accused, who is wife of the main accused, has been acquitted by the high court. All four accused, Momin and his wife Nazra, Jaikam and Sajid were convicted and sentenced to death by the trial court. A dispute about running the family business of a brick kiln is alleged to be the motive behind the murder.

Confirming the death penalty of three persons, whose conviction was upheld, the bench observed: “There are no mitigating circumstances and rather all the circumstances demand that the capital sentence awarded to Momin be confirmed. The dastardly act of wiping out the entire family, therefore, falls within the category of “rarest of rare cases” where passing of a death sentence is of greatest concern in order to keep the faith of people alive in the law of the land. The manner in which the offence was committed and the gruesome nature in which it was executed awarding a lesser punishment to Momin would be encouraging a criminal mind and would weaken the systems' credibility. The murder is of two minors and four elderly persons who are none other than the real blood relations of the appellant Momin. He did not hesitate in taking the life of his own father, mother, brother and his wife, his nephew and his niece, and not only this no hesitation was shown in slaughtering all of them together with deadly weapons. “

Confirming death penalty of the other convicts, the bench added: “The scale of manslaughter that reminds of medieval treachery is writ large coupled with the severity of abhorrence that the society comes to face when the apparent reason for wiping off the entire family is lust for property lined with vengeance and intense hatred.”