Journalist Soumya Vishwanathan Murder: Saket Court Sentences 4 Accused to Life Term

Delhi’s Saket Court on Saturday sentenced four individuals to life imprisonment for the murder of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in 2008.

The court sentenced life imprisonment to Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar who were recently convicted under Indian Penal Code section 302 (murder) and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) provisions for committing organised crime resulting in a person’s death.

The fifth convict, Ajay Sethi, was sentenced to three years in jail. He had previously been convicted under IPC Section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and MCOCA provisions for conspiring, abetting, aiding, or knowingly facilitating organized crime and receiving its proceeds.

During the judgment, Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey directed that the sentences of the four accused would run consecutively.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 7.25 lakh on Ajay Sethi. However, the court offset his sentence as he had already served time in the case.

On October 26, the court had called for a pre-sentence report (PSR) before determining the quantum of the sentence. The principal secretary of the Delhi government was directed to assign any Probationary Officer (PO) for the task of submitting the PSR.

Soumya Vishwanathan, a TV journalist, was shot dead on September 30, 2008, while returning home from work in her car around 3:30 am. Initially, the police claimed that robbery was the motive behind her killing.