Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, May 27: A Delhi court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of his wife in 2014, rejecting his plea for leniency on grounds of poverty and personal circumstances. The sentencing was delivered by Tis Hazari Court’s Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Virender Kumar Kharta on May 17.

The convict, Giriraj Kishor Bhardwaj alias Shyam Nagar, was found guilty of murdering his wife Kusum by setting her ablaze. An FIR had been registered at Sarai Rohilla Railway Station police station in 2014, and the court had held him guilty of the crime on April 9 this year.

Rejecting the plea for a lighter sentence, the judge said, "The aggravating circumstances have outweighed the mitigating circumstances, but still, the present case does not fall within the purview of the rarest of rare doctrine." Hence, the death penalty was ruled out, and a life sentence was awarded instead.

During the hearing, the defence argued that Bhardwaj came from an economically weaker background, was a first-time offender, and had dependent family members, including an ailing father and a deceased mother. They requested the court to take a reformative approach.

However, the prosecution sought the harshest punishment, citing the heinous nature of the crime and its devastating impact on the victim’s children. The court was told that the elder son of the couple had turned into a drug addict and the younger, a minor, was now working as a vegetable vendor’s helper after dropping out of school.

Regarding compensation, the court directed that the victim’s legal heirs be compensated under Section 357A of CrPC in accordance with the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme, 2018 (Part-I). As Kusum is deceased, the compensation will go to her surviving family.

The sentencing underscores the judiciary’s firm stance on domestic violence and the importance of victim compensation in cases of heinous crimes.