Himachal HC commutes death sentence to life term in Shimla Yug murder case
Three convicts had appealed against the death sentence handed down to them by the Shimla district and sessions judge in 2018 for kidnapping the four-year-old boy in 2014 and torturing him before tying stones to his body and throwing him alive into a water tank.
The Himachal Pradesh high court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence handed down to two convicts by a sessions court to life term for kidnapping and murdering four-year-old Yug in 2014, while acquitting the third of all charges.
A special division bench of justice Vivek Singh Thakur and justice Rakesh Kainthala ruled that two convicts, Chander Sharma, 26, and Vikrant Bakshi, 22, would remain in jail till their last breath. It accepted the appeal of accused Tejinder Pal, 29, and acquitted him
The case had been referred to the high court by the Shimla sessions judge for confirmation of capital punishment, while the convicts filed an appeal challenging their conviction.
The detailed order is awaited.
In September 2018, Shimla district and sessions judge Virender Singh had termed the crime rarest of rare and sentenced all three to death. The court found the trio guilty of kidnapping Yug from Shimla’s busy Ram Bazaar on June 14, 2014, and demanding a ransom of ₹3.5 crore from his businessman father.
Two years later, in August 2016, investigators recovered the child’s skeletal remains from a water tank at Bharari in Shimla. The probe revealed chilling details as the three had tied stones to the child and thrown him alive into the tank.
The case sparked outrage with candlelight marches and protests, demanding swift justice.
The crime investigation department filed the chargesheet on October 25, 2016, and the trial commenced on February 20, 2017. During the course of the proceedings, statements from 105 witnesses were recorded, leading to a verdict in 10-and-a-half months.
