Darbhanga, April 21: In a stark contrast from the case of starving sisters from Noida, who decided to end their life after the death of their father, two sisters from Darbhanga were awarded life imprisonment today for killing their mother and brother.

Additional district judge of fast track court 2, Narayan Bhaskar Mani pronounced Mala Kumari alias Priyanka Bharti (20) and Madhu Kumari (22) guilty of murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on both the convicts.

In his statement, the judge said the judgment is based on circumstantial evidence as there was no eyewitness to the crime. The two sisters, said the court verdict, burnt their mother Sumitra Devi and brother Mukesh Mahato to death after making them consume highly toxic material. The motive behind the murder was not specified in the order.

The case of death of Sumitra Devi and Mukesh Mahato was lodged at the town police station on July 9, 2009.

The prosecution claimed first the girls made Sumitra and Mukesh consume medicine that intoxicated them, then, they locked up the doors of the house at Subhankar Nagar, falling under town police station, before setting the house on fire. Soon, the blaze was doused by the fire brigade but by that time the two victims were charred to death.

The fire was reported around 11pm on July 9, 2009, but the two girls arrived at the spot at 9am, the next day.

Both Mala and Madhu claimed that somebody had burnt their house and they got scared and hence were hiding in the Kankali temple. They could not shout or call any body for help.

Rabindra Mahto, uncle of the two girls, was out of town at the time of fire. When informed about this incident, Mahto claimed his nieces were involved in the murder. He registered an FIR against Mala, Madhu and three others — Shambhu Paswan, Chetan and Pramod — for conspiring and carrying out the crime.

The police submitted chargesheet against the two sisters but the remaining three accused are still absconding, said sources.

The public prosecutor of Darbhanga district court, Shayam Kishore Pradhan, told The Telegraph that the case was heard under speedy trial at fast track court 2 and within 21 months the judgment was passed.

Seventeen people were presented as witnesses in the case and based on their statements, it was established that the girls killed their mother and brother.

The remaining three accused in the case have been declared absconders and police are looking for them, Pradhan added.

Both the sisters were lodged at Darbhanga divisional jail soon after the complaint was filed against them. They were never bailed out. According to the postmortem report, Sumitra and Mukesh were found intoxicated before being burnt to death.