Journalist Saumya Vishwanathan murder case: All 5 accused convicted, check all details
The accused found guilty for attempted robbery and murder of the late journalist.
New Delhi: After fifteen years of trials, all five accused in the journalist Saumya Vishwanathan murder case have been found guilty of attempted robbery and murder on October 18. The final sentence will be delivered next week.
Saumya’s mother has asked for nothing less than life imprisonment for all the accused involved in the killing of her daughter.
All accused convicted in 2008 Delhi journalist Saumya Vishwanathan murder case
On the verdict, the deceased journalist’s mother says, “We’ve lost our daughter but this (verdict) will act as a deterrent for others also.”
“Life imprisonment,” she adds on what should be the… pic.twitter.com/pRSjk7mxUX
— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2023
Who was Saumya Vishwanathan?
Saumya Vishwanathan was a TV journalist for India Today (Formerly known as Headlines Today) and was the only child of her parents.
Saumya was originally from Kerala and was working in Delhi. She was only 25 years old at the time of her unfortunate demise on September 30, 2008.
What happened on the night of the incident?
On the night of September 30, 2008, while returning to her home in the Vasant Kunj area of Delhi, Saumya Vishwanathan was attacked by her killer near the Nelson Mandela Marg, with intentions of robbing her, when she resisted and tried to flee the attackers opened fire on her car with one of the bullet hitting her in the head causing her death.
She was found dead in her car the next morning by the police.
Who are the accused?
There were a total of five accused in the case, Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Sethi, and Ajay Kumar.
The investigation of the murder started soon after Saumya’s car was discovered, and a case was registered at the Vasant Vihar Police Station.
Despite all the efforts, the police were unable to catch a hold of the accused until six months later, in March 2009, when the police were able to nab all the five accused.
Turning point in the case
The breakthrough in the Saumya Vishwanathan murder case came out of the blue when police arrested Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla and Baljeet Malik, in a similar MO case of Jigisha Ghosh, a called centre executive who was also murdered in a similar fashion.
During the interrogation, the accused broke down and accepted the killing of Jigisha Ghosh and also admitted to the killing of Saumya Vishwanathan, which led to the other two accused, Ajay Sethi, and Ajay Kumar’s arrest.
What happened to the Jigisha Ghosh murder case?
The court found all three accused guilty in 2016, and sentenced Balajeet Malik to life imprisonment, while Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla were sentenced to death. However, in 2017, the death sentence of Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla was converted to life imprisonment.
What are the charges in the Saumya Vishwanathan murder case?
#WATCH | On verdict in 2008 Delhi journalist Saumya Vishwanathan murder case, Special Commissioner of Police Delhi, HGS Dhaliwal says, “We are happy and satisfied that justice has been served after 15 long years. This was a big case for Delhi Police. There were a lot of… pic.twitter.com/TI7IKBeWCn
— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2023
In the initial charge sheet, all accused except Ajay Sethi were charged under IPC 302 (Murder) and IPC 34 (Common intention).
Later, in 2011, all the accused were booked under the MOCOCA Act (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), for running an organised crime syndicate.
On October 18, 2023, Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar were convicted of murder and attempted robbery charges, while Ajay Sethi was charged as the accomplice in the crime.