After killing him, the accused had wrapped his business partner’s body in a curtain and hidden it in his shop.
The body was discovered three days later when a foul smell started emanating from it. Noting the motive to be a debt of ₹24 lakh that the accused was unable to pay to the deceased, additional sessions judge Surinder Kumar Sharma said, “Motive on the part of accused to commit murder has been proved… sentenced to undergo life-term imprisonment with a fine of ₹10,000.”
The incident dates back to Sept 21, 2014, when the foul smell had prompted the police to carry out an inspection of the shop, which belonged to Honey Rajpal, in northeast Delhi’s Geeta Colony.
The body of a man, whose age was estimated to be around 35 years, had injury marks on the head and a cloth wrapped around the neck. Bloodstains were also found on the staircase of the shop and the deceased was identified to be Mohit Kaushal.
The victim’s wife stated that the accused owed her husband ₹24 lakh.
The prosecution argued that the accused fleeing after the incident proved that he was running away from the law. On the other hand, the defence counsel argued that the case was based on circumstantial evidence and it had not been proved that Rajpal was seen with Kaushal.
The defence counsel also claimed that it was the deceased who owed money to Rajpal and had not repaid it despite several reminders.
The court, however, observed that the accused had called the deceased on the morning of Sep 19, 2014 — the day of the murder — and asked him to come to his shop. Taking note of the evidence in hand, it concluded that Kaushal was last present with Rajpal.
“Other discussions also provide additional links in the chain of circumstantial evidence,” ASJ Sharma observed. Apart from being sentenced to life-term imprisonment, the convict was fined ₹10,000.
