2 women awarded death penalty for killing 4-yr-old boy

nPATNA: A woman and her motherin-law have been awarded capital punishment by Gopalganj district and session court for murder of a four-year-old boy in 2017.

This is the fourth capital punishment awarded by the Gopalganj court in the last five years.

Those awarded capital punishment have been identified as Durgawati Devi (60) and her daughter-in-law Sankesha Devi (40). “Additional district and session judge Lavkush Kumar awarded capital punishment to the duo holding that this was among the rarest of the rare cases and the accused deserved maximum punishment for the inhuman and heinous crime,” Gopalganj government counsel Jairam Prasad said. He said that the incident took place at Chhitauna village under Vijaipur police station area of the district on September 5, 2017. The same court held them guilty on July 5, 2020.

The victim, identified as Dev Kumar, was playing outside his house and went missing under mysterious circumstances. His mutilated body was found in front of the house of the accused at Chhitauna village the next day, said police. Both the accused were arrested.

One of accused, Sankesha, was allegedly involved in ‘black magic’ and took the boy to her house on the pretext of giving him a chocolate. She, along with mother-in-law, slit his throat with a knife. During interrogation, they confessed to the crime. A murder case against the 2 women was lodged on the basis of the statement of victim’s father.