Life term for 2 Nikita murder convicts
Tribune News Service
Faridabad, March 26
A fast-track court here today sentenced two convicts to life imprisonment for the murder of Nikita Tomar, five months after the 21-year-old was shot outside her college in Ballabgarh. A fine of Rs 20,000 has also been slapped.
Tausif (22) and Rehan (24) were pronounced guilty on March 24 by Additional District and Sessions Judge Sartaj Baswana. Another accused, Ajru, who allegedly supplied the gun to the convicts, was acquitted.
A B.Com final year student, Nikita was murdered on October 26 after she resisted an abduction attempt by the duo. Tausif hailed from Sohna while the other two belonged to Nuh.
The defence counsel pleaded against awarding death sentence to the convicts contending they were students and had no criminal past. The prosecution, however, sought toughest-possible punishment.
The police, in its chargesheet filed in a record 11 days, had claimed that Tausif drew inspiration for the crime from a web series. “Nikita was murdered as she refused to marry Tausif,” said a relative. The victim was abducted by Tausif in 2018 too, but the complaint was reportedly withdrawn under pressure.
Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, who had called it a case of “love jihad”, said the state government would file an appeal before the High Court seeking death sentence for the two men.
