Two accused fined, awarded life terms by Agra court in 2018 case of girl set on fire
Two people were sentenced to life in prison, accused of setting a 15-year-old girl on fire, dousing her with an inflammable substance, on December 18, 2018. She succumbed to her burn injuries in a Delhi hospital on December 19, 2018.
The court of the additional district and sessions judge (Court No. 17) in Agra, Nitin Kumar Thakur, passed the verdict in the case on Tuesday and sentenced both accused – Vijay and Aakash – to a life in prison, besides imposing a penalty of ₹2,61,500 on each.
On December 18, 2018, Sanjali was returning from school on her cycle when she was attacked by the accused. She was shifted to Delhi but breathed her last at Safdarjung Hospital on December 19, 2018.
The girl was set on fire by a cigarette lighter, later found at the spot, after some combustible fluid was poured on her. The girl had sustained 70% burn injuries which proved fatal. Sanjali was a resident of village Lalau and studied in Class 10, at a school near her village.
The case had been registered at Malpura police station of Agra district under section 326A (causing grievous injury by acid or similar substance) and Section 34 (joint liability in criminal act) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act at Malpura police station of Agra district on December 18, 2018.
After the death of the victim, sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of Indian Penal Code were added to the case. Both the accused, Vijay and Aakash, were arrested on December 25, 2018 and a charge-sheet was filed in the case on March 20, 2019.
Strangely, her cousin, and the main accused in the case, committed suicide two days after her death. Yogesh Kumar died on December 20, 2018, allegedly after consuming something poisonous. He was admitted to a private hospital but could not be saved.
According to police sources, Kumar had masterminded the plan while Vijay and Aakash implemented it.
He had completed B Ed and was looking for a job. He had gone to Delhi to meet Sanjali but returned much disturbed and consumed poison, according to the Agra police.
