Tricked With Shraddh Ritual, Killed For Marriage Demand: 4 Get Life In Rajasthan Honour Killing Case

A Rajasthan court has sentenced four members of a family to life imprisonment for conspiring to murder Suman, who was killed after pressing her partner Pradhan to marry her. The prosecution said Suman was lured to a village, poisoned and falsely portrayed as a snakebite victim. Her death came to light after a postmortem and further investigation.

Four members of a family have been sentenced to a life imprisonment in Rajasthan for murder of a young woman. A special SC/ST court in Tonk has sentenced a woman, her two sons and daughter to life imprisonment for conspiring to kill 25-year-old Suman, who was in a relationship with one of the accused, Pradhan. The court also imposed a combined fine of Rs 1.35 lakh on the four convicts.

Woman killed after asking partner to marry her

Suman and Pradhan were both residents of Jaipur and had roots in Tonk district. According to the prosecution, the two were in a relationship, but problems began when Suman started asking Pradhan to marry her. Pradhan allegedly avoided the issue 'because the couple belonged to different castes'. The prosecution said he then conspired with his mother Sanjana, brother Sawai Ram and sister Sushila to kill Suman in 2022, according to a report by Aaj Tak.

Suman was allegedly called to their village on the pretext of attending a Shraddh ceremony. There, she was made to consume a poisonous chemical.

Pradhan informed Suman's brother about her condition three days later and asked him to come to Ajmer, where Suman had already died. Her family was allegedly led to believe that she had died after a snakebite. They subsequently performed her last rites in September 2022.

Postmortem exposed the murder

The case took a different turn when Suman's postmortem report showed that she had died after consuming a poisonous chemical.

Suspicion then fell on Pradhan after investigators found that around Rs 80,000 had been withdrawn from Suman's bank account using her ATM card. Suman's brother filed a complaint in May 2023, following which police registered a case and began investigating the circumstances surrounding her death.

During the probe, investigators alleged that Suman's murder had been planned after she insisted that Pradhan marry her.

Court relies on 27 witnesses

Special Judge Aarti Maheshwari based the verdict on the statements of 27 witnesses and 37 documents presented during the trial. The court sentenced Sanjana, her sons Pradhan and Sawai Ram, and daughter Sushila to life imprisonment.

Sanjana and Sawai Ram were already in judicial custody in Jaipur in another murder case involving Sanjana's husband, Jagdish. They were brought to Tonk on production warrants in connection with the Suman murder case.

In that separate case, police had alleged that Sanjana and Sawai Ram killed Jagdish with an axe following a dispute over his drinking and behaviour.