Youth gets rigorous lifer for murdering aunt in Darjeeling
Darjeeling: The Darjeeling District Judge Court sentenced a 26-year-old youth to rigorous life imprisonment for murdering his 45-year-old aunt Chitra Kala Gurung.
“Judge Jimut Bahan Biswas sentenced 26-year-old Pranesh Rai to rigorous life imprisonment for murdering Chitra Kala Gurung on March 14, 2022. A total of 53 witnesses were examined in this case,” stated Pranay Rai, Public Prosecutor, Darjeeling.
On March 14, 2022, when his wife did not answer his repeated cell phone calls, Nabin Gurung, a teacher accompanied by a colleague, Jainidhi Sharma, rushed home from Vidyasagar High School, Bijanbari. On reaching his residence at Relling Road at around 2:15 pm, he found the door locked from inside. With still no response, he opened the front door with a duplicate key and entered. In the kitchen he found his wife Chitra Kala Gurung (45 years) lying in a pool of blood. On checking the other rooms, Gurung found that the Almirah was broken and valuables, including gold and cash, were missing. The pet dog had also been killed. An FIR was filed by him at the Pulbazar Police Station. Police started an investigation. CCTV footage of all entry and exit routes to the house was examined. On March 16, 23-year-old Pranesh Rai was arrested from Pulbazar area. Rai, who is Nabin Gurung’s nephew, was staying in Shanti Parbat in Darjeeling as a paying guest.
During interrogation, Rai confessed that on that day he had visited the house and demanded money from Chitra Kala, his aunt. When she refused to pay, there was a heated altercation. His aunt was alone in the house. The accused then assaulted her and repeatedly hit her with a blunt weapon. When she fell on the floor, he stole the money and gold ornaments from the almirah and left for Siliguri. The accused was charged under Sections 302 (murder,) 379 (theft) and 429 (killing animals) of the IPC.
“CCTV footage of the convict within an hour of the murder in the same area, sporting a green t-shirt was important evidence. Nabin Gurung had identified the t-shirt as his and the person wearing it as Nabin, his nephew. After the murder, the t-shirt had gone missing from his house. There were other witnesses who had given Nabin lift in their bikes and vehicles from Relling Road, Bijanbari to Shanti Parbat in Darjeeling. Following the murder, Nabin had also conducted online money transfers to a number of persons. All these helped zero in on Nabin,” added the Public Prosecutor.
