Pay widow of victim 1 lakh each to get bail, judge tells 5 accused

Sumegha Gulati, Sat, Sep 17, 2011, New Delhi:

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Madhu Jain has directed five accused to pay a compensation amount of Rs 1 lakh each to the widow and son of a murdered person in order to secure release on bail.

Jain, ASJ at the Tis Hazari court, on Wednesday granted bail to the five accused — Manoj Kumar, Pankaj Jain, Tarun Ahuja, Manoj Ahuja and Harish Bhasin — for the murder of one Narender Kumar, but directed that they pay Rs 1 lakh each as compensation to Kumar’s wife Shanti Devi (55) and son Shiva (21), as a precondition.

“Five lakh rupees is a big amount. Hamare dil se judge ke liye sirf dua hi nikalti hai. Unhone ek gareeb vidhwa aur uske bete ki madad ki hai (We are grateful to the judge, she has helped a poor widow and her son). But we do not want to discuss this issue,” Shanti said.

Shanti, who lives with Shiva in a one-room house in Gali Kandle Kasan, Chandni Chowk, said that her life changed completely after Kumar was murdered in April this year. “Life became tough but thankfully, my three daughters were married by then. Shiva works as a stock boy at a saree shop in Nai Sadak,” she said.

According to police, the accused — all businessmen by profession — allegedly beat Kumar to death on April 21. “The five suspected that Kumar had burnt down Ahuja’s Kinari Bazar shop where he worked,” a police officer told Newsline.

According to Shiva, all his efforts to save his father went in vain. Even as he was being assaulted by the accused, Kumar collapsed. He was taken to Lok Nayak Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. Police registered a case against the accused.

According to police, investigations revealed that it was Kumar who had set Ahuja’s shop on fire on April 13.

“The CCTV footage acquired from the scene clearly shows Kumar lighting the matchstick and throwing it on highly inflammable material. The accused have admitted to assaulting Kumar,” the officer said.

The court has charged the accused with culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the IPC.

“The death of the victim was without any preplanning or premeditation on the part of the accused persons. It was the victim who set the godown of Tarun Ahuja on fire. No weapon of offence was used, and death occurred due to cerebral damage... not related to the assault,” the court said.

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