The district and sessions court in Malda awarded death penalty to Md Asif, 23, for killing four members of his family in 2021 over property, a case that had created a sensation in the state.
A resident of Gurutola village under Kaliachak police station, Asif, then 19, murdered his parents, his sister and his grandmother on February 28, 2021. His brother, who escaped getting killed, informed the police.
On June 19, 2021, the police arrested him and recovered the decomposed bodies from the house.
Bibhas Chatterjee, a public prosecutor from Calcutta, said Asif was found guilty on Friday after the trial ended. In all, 19 witnesses deposed in court.
“Asif was convicted under three sections of the IPC. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven and 10 years under two sections, while under section 302 was given the death sentence,” he said.
Md Naser Ali, Asif’s lawyer, said they would appeal in Calcutta High Court within a month.
Asif drugged his father Jawad Ali, 53, his mother Ira Bibi, 39, his sister Rima Khatun, 15, his septuagenarian grandmother Aleknoor Bewa, and his brother Md Arif, who was 21 then, by offering them mango juice.
As they fell unconscious, Asif carried them from his home to a building that his father had built on the same campus through a tunnel that connected both. He put them in coffins and dragged the coffins under a water tap. His parents, sister and grandmother died as the coffins filled with water.
Arif regained his senses, fought with Asif and managed to flee to Calcutta. Asif went on intimidating him over the phone. After three months, Arif lodged a complaint with Kaliachak police, helped by one of his uncles.
The police recovered the bodies and arrested Asif. A police officer said Asif wanted his parents to bequeath their property to him alone.