Prosecution seeks death for Thapa murder convicts

Mumbai: The prosecution in the 2012 murder of aspiring actress Meenakshi Thapa, on Thursday demanded capital punishment for the two case convicts - Amit Jaiswal, a lawyer-cum-junior artist and his girlfriend and junior artist, Priti Sunrin.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on Thursday argued before sessions judge S.G. Shette that there were around 16 aggravating circumstances that put this case in the category of “rarest of rare” and hence, the convicts should be awarded the death sentence.

According to the arguments made by advocate Nikam, the accused committed the murder in a pre-planned manner and demanded ransom from Ms Thapa’s family after killing her. “It was a brutal murder and the accused did not show any signs of remorse nor was there any possibility of their reformation,” he said.

Advocate Nikam said that considering that they were a threat to the society, the court should award them capital punishment.

Jaiswal and Sunrin have been convicted of killing Ms Thapa, who appeared in a few films including Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine. The defence lawyer on the other hand claimed that the case did not fall under the category of “rarest of rare” and that the court should show leniency to the convicts while awarding the sentence.

After hearing the arguments, judge Shette said that he would pronounce the quantum of punishment for both convicts on Friday. Since they have been convicted in a murder case, the court can award them either a death sentence or life imprisonment.