Man sentenced to death for killing couple by pouring acid on them after dispute over mobile phone

Palghar: A 28-year-old man was on Thursday awarded death sentence by the district court here for killing a married couple by pouring acid on them.

District and Sessions Judge R N Majgaonkar also ordered compensation in accordance with a Maharashtra government scheme for acid attack victims for the couple’s orphaned children, aged five and eight years.

According to the prosecution, Yadav poured concentrated sulphuric acid on his colleague Rajkumar Balram Ravidas (35) and his wife Geeta (30) when they were fast asleep in the chemical company’s quarters, leading to their death. The incident was an outcome of a fight over a mobile phone.

In November 2015, Yadav had stolen the mobile phone of Ravidas, who complained to their boss. Enraged over being reprimanded by the boss, Yadav poured acid on Ravidas and his wife while they were sleeping, Additional Public Prosecutor Deepak Tare had told the court.

The judge relied on the eyewitness account of Yadav’s co-workers and said this is a “rarest of the rare case” where the accused “deserves nothing less then the death sentence”.

The prosecution has proved beyond all reasonable doubts the charge under IPC section 302 (murder) against the accused, he said. Around a dozen people were examined as prosecution witnesses in the case.