More than one-and-a-half decades after TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan was murdered, a Delhi court convicted the killers of the 25-year-old woman on Wednesday.
The court convicted four accused Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar and Baljeet Malik in the murder case. The fifth accused, Ajay Sethi, was convicted for receiving stolen property, reported PTI. All five accused have also been convicted under Maharashtra's stringent law MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act).
The court fixed the date for sentencing on October 26.
Vishwanathan was shot dead at Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delh's Vasant Kunj area on September 30, 2008, around 3.30 am while she returning home from work.
Police had claimed that the motive behind her murder was robbery and in March 2009, they arrested five men – Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi – for killing Soumya.
Here is a timeline of Soumya Vishwanathan murder case.
September 30, 2008: Soumya Vishwanathan shot dead at Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj, while returning home from work in her car around 3.30 am
March 28, 2009: Five men – Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi – arrested after recovery of the weapon used in IT executive Jigisha Ghosh's murder reveals the involvement of the same accused in Soumya's murder.
April 2009: Delhi police invokes the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused in the Soumya murder case.
June 22, 2009: First chargesheet filed against the five accused.
February 6, 2010: Ravi Kapoor, Baljeet Singh, Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar, and Ajay Sethi slapped with charges under murder, robbery and other offences
May 9, 2011: Charges framed against the accused under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
August 2016: A trial court sentences Kapoor and Shukla to death while Malik was sentenced to life in the 2009 Jigisha Ghosh murder case.
January 2018: Delhi High court commutes the death sentences of Kapoor and Shukla to life imprisonment. Malik's life term was upheld.
February 27, 2019: Delhi High Court orders trial court to speed up the trial of Soumya's murder case based on plea filed by Malik.
March 2022: Court begins recording the evidence of the accused after prosecution completes submitting evidence.
May 2023: Final arguments commence after recording of evidence concludes.
October 13, 2023: Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey reserves judgment in the case after completion of arguments by the defence and prosecution. The court said all parties can file written submissions, if any, by October 14.
October 18, 2023: Delhi court convicts Kapoor, Shukla, Kumar and Malik in the murder case. Sethi convicted for receiving stolen property. All five convicted under MCOCA.
October 26, 2023: The court fixed the date for sentencing on October 26.