National
Jigisha murder: HC commutes death sentence of 2 to life (Lead)
New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Thursday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence of two convicts in the 2009 Jigisha Ghosh murder case.
A division bench of Justice S. Murlidhar and Justice I.S. Mehta modified the death sentence awarded to Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla by the trial court and said they would serve life imprisonment.
The death row convicts had challenged the trial court’s conviction and sentence.
The trial court had on July 14, 2016, held the two guilty of the murder of IT executive Ghosh and on other counts.
The 28-year-old operations manager at Hewitt Associates Pvt Ltd in Noida was abducted after an office car dropped her around 4.00 a.m. near her Delhi home.
While sentencing the two to death, the trial court had said she was killed in a “cold-blooded, inhuman and cruel manner” and “brutally mauled to death”.
The trial court had said that the “magnitude and brutality” exhibited by the convicts made the case “rarest of rare”, warranting capital punishment for Kapoor and Shukla.
The trial court had also sentenced a third offender, Baljeet Malik, to life imprisonment.
Ghosh was also robbed of her gold jewellery, two mobile phones and debit and credit cards on the day of the murder.
Her body was found near Surajkund in Haryana, about 20 km from her Vasant Vihar home.
The police had arrested the three within a week following digital footprints, after the suspects used Ghosh’s ATM cards to buy expensive goggles, wristwatches and shoes at the Sarojini Nagar Market in Delhi.
They got nailed after police identified them from a CCTV footage. Malik’s hand tattoo busted the gang as the surveillance camera at a shop captured the image when the three were out shopping.
The trial court had held the three guilty under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, abducting for murder, destruction of evidence, voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery, forgery for purpose of cheating and using as genuine a forged document.
However, the charge of criminal conspiracy could not be proved against them.
In June 2009, the police had filed the charge-sheet in the case stating that Ghosh’s post-mortem report had revealed that she was killed by smothering. The trial in the case began in April 2010.
The three were also facing trial for the murder of TV journalist Soumya Viswanathan, killed a year before Ghosh.
–IANS
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National
Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok
Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.