Four convicts involved in the murder of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in 2008 have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court. A fifth convict has been given a three-year jail term. The court decided against imposing the death penalty, stating that the crime did not fall under the “rarest of rare” category. Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar will serve life sentences, while Ajay Sethi has been sentenced to three years for aiding them in the crime.
On September 30, 2008, Soumya Vishwanathan, a 25-year-old journalist working with Headlines Today, left her office in Jhandewalan at 3:03 am after helping with a breaking news event. Little did she know that this would be her final drive home to Vasant Kunj. Unbeknownst to her, she overtook a car occupied by Kapoor, Shukla, Kumar, and Malik, as per the police investigation.
The four convicts, realizing that Soumya was alone, began following her and attempted to intercept her car. When she ignored their attempts, Kapoor fired a shot at her head with a homemade weapon. The bullet instantly killed her, causing the car to crash into a divider on Nelson Mandela Marg, near her residence.
The killers initially fled the scene but returned after 20 minutes to check on the victim. Upon spotting police personnel, they fled once again. The court determined that this crime, while heinous, did not meet the criteria for the death penalty.
The sentencing of the four convicts to life imprisonment brings some form of justice to Soumya Vishwanathan’s tragic death.
