October 16 execution of woman stayed
The victims were strangulated after being administered sleeping pills at their house in Qabulpur village of Rohtak.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the October 16 execution of a Haryana woman, Sonam, accused of murdering seven members of a family, including four children, in 2009 by joining hands with her boyfriend.
The apex court, which had already stayed the execution of her boyfri-end Naveen Kumar, directed the present appeal to be tagged along with Naveen Kumar’s appeal.
The Punjab and Haryana high court in June this year had confirmed the death sentences awarded to a 27-year-old Haryana woman and her 28-year-old boyfriend by a Rohtak court in 2014 for poisoning and strangling seven members of her family, including four children, in September 2009. The Rohtak sessions court had sentenced to death Sonam and her boyfriend Naveen Kumar for the murder of her parents, 16-year-old brother, grandmother and three cousins, all of whom were below 11 years of age.
The victims were strangulated after being administered sleeping pills at their house in Qabulpur village of Rohtak. The court had sent reference of death sentence to the high court for confirmation in accordance with the law. The police investigation had revealed that Sonam had told Naveen that they should “finish her family members” after her education had been stopped and she was restricted from leaving the house due to their relationship.
The tranquiliser had been mixed in the food served to the family members by Sonam and after that they proceeded to str-angle them. Money and jewellery had also been stolen from the house to make it appear as a case of robbery.
Senior counsel Sirajuddin, appearing for Sonam, argued before a three-judge bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Naveen Sinha that the execution had been fixed for October 16 and pleaded for the stay, pointing out that a similar stay had been granted in respect of co-accused.
The appellant argued that the evidence of the investigating officer was not cogent to arrive at the conclusion that she committed the murders along with her boy friend.