Today, the Delhi Saket Court found all five defendants guilty of the 2008 murder of Delhi journalist Soumya Vishwanathan. The judgment was rendered more than fifteen years after the national capital’s crime.
The five defendants—Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Ajay Kumar, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Sethi—were all found guilty by the court today.
Regarding Vishwanathan’s death
On September 30, 2008, about 3:30 am, Vishwanathan was fatally murdered while driving home from work. Her death was committed for robbery, according to investigators.
In March 2009, police detained five individuals for her slaying: Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Kumar, and Ajay Sethi.
The police had charged the offenders under the strict Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA).
According to authorities, the murder case against Vishwanathan was solved thanks to the discovery of the weapon used to murder IT executive Jigisha Ghosh.
Legal action taken thus far
One of the defendants, Baljeet Malik, approached the Delhi High Court in 2019 for a speedy trial, and the court then requested a report from the trial court about the reasons why the trial had not been completed nine and a half years after the chargesheet was issued.
The trial court had disclosed to the high court that the absence of prosecution witnesses and the time required for the appointment of a special public prosecutor were the main causes of the delay.
In August 2016, the Jigisha Ghosh murder case trial court convicted Malik to life in prison and handed down the death penalty to Kapoor and Shukla.
However, the high court affirmed Malik’s life sentence and modified the death sentences of Kapoor and Shukla to life in prison in January 2018.