Fast track court convicts two accused after three-month trial
Gurugram: Nearly five months after the brutal murder of 21-year-old Nikita Tomar, a college student in Faridabad, outside her college in Ballabgarh, a fast-track court hearing the case, on Wednesday convicted two accused and acquitted one other.
Prime accused Tausif and another man, Rehan, were convicted under sections 302 (murder), 366 (kidnapping a woman to compel her into marriage) and 120-B/34 (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and a third accused Azharuddin acquitted, defence counsel Adal Singh Rawat said.
While Tausif and Rehan were seen in CCTV footage from the crime scene, Azharuddin was accused of supplying the weapon used in the murder to Tausif but the court found insufficient evidence in that regard.
Speaking on Wednesday's verdict, Nikita's father Moolchand Tomar said that he hoped that the judge will award the death penalty to the convicts who brutally murdered his daughter.
"Nikita was a strong girl who died defending her principles. I will be satisfied only after her murderers will be hanged to death. It has been over five months since we have been fighting for her and we will continue to do so even in the future," he said.
Additional Sessions Judge Sartaj Baswana is hearing the case and has now posted the matter for arguments on sentencing on Friday.
The hearing started on December 1 last year and concluded after 3 months 22 days on March 23. During these sessions, the prosecution placed 57 witnesses and Tausif and his accomplices produced only two witnesses in their defence.
The verdict was announced at the fast track court amid high drama as Azharuddin fainted due to anxiety in the minutes before the court concluded he was not guilty. He was eventually escorted out of the courtroom.
While public outrage had peaked over the case when it became public that Nikita knew her killer, who was trying to stalk and harass her for a while. In a speedy investigation, the Haryana Police SIT had filed a 700-page chargesheet in the murder case within 11 days.
Nikita was a third-year B.Com student at the Aggarwal College in Ballabgarh and was shot dead in broad daylight in October last year right outside her college. After the shooting, Tausif was seen getting into an i-20 car, driven by his acquaintance Rehan. The two were arrested in a day and later Azhar was held.
Massive protests had erupted in many parts of Haryana after the accused were identified with many propagating rumours about the motive having to do with refusing to convert one's religion. This was not the case.
And with Tausif also being a part of a politically powerful family in Nuh, there were also fears and concerns that extreme pressure would be exerted on the Tomar family.
(With PTI inputs)
