Three men, including a spurned lover, have been sentenced to life and a fourth awarded rigorous imprisonment for four years in connection with the murder of a college girl in Dhanbad five months ago.
The court of district and sessions judge Ambuj Nath on Monday held main accused Arshad Ansari (25) and two others - Jamshed Ansari (27) and Dablu alias Shoaib (27) - guilty of killing SSLNT Women's College student Usha Kumari (18) under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (tampering of evidence) of the IPC and also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on each.
Arshad's uncle Yasin Ansari (50), convicted under IPC Section 216 for harbouring an offender whose apprehension has been ordered, will have to pay up Rs 10,000, besides serving four years in prison.
The total fine amount of Rs 70,000 must be given to the bereaved family, the judge has ordered.
On January 13, the body of Usha, who studied in first year, was found in a field in her native Chitarpur village in Topchanchi block, around 30km from the Dhanbad district headquarters.
According to the prosecution, Arshad's unrequited love for Usha incited his conspiracy of kidnap and kill. That fateful day, the young man and his two friends abducted the college girl from near her house in Chitarpur, stabbed her to death and dumped her in the field. The trio took his uncle Yasin's help to escape after the crime.
The discovery of the girl's maimed body had triggered public outrage, with a 500-strong mob blocking NH-2 for more than 12 hours that day, demanding the arrest of all the accused.
The mob even torched a small market complex in Topchanchi owned by Arshad's family. Senior police officers and politicians, including Tundi MLA Rajkishor Mahto, had to rush to the spot and quell the fiery protest.
Arshad was arrested from an adjoining village on January 14 and the three others were nabbed the day after. Police filed chargesheets against them on April 29. The court examined altogether 10 witnesses, including investigating officer Vineet P. Tigga and Usha's elder brother Triveni Prasad Mahto, the key informant in the case.
"Finally, truth has prevailed," Triveni said after Monday's verdict.
