Chandigarh, March 30 (IANS) A woman doctor and a Sikh priest were Friday sentenced to life imprisonment by a court here for the gruesome murder of a sitting judge in Punjab’s Patiala town in October 2005.
Ravdeep Kaur, a gynaecologist, and the granthi Manjit Singh had earlier this week been convicted for the murder of Vijay Singh, a judge posted in Chandigarh’s labour court, on Oct 13, 2005.
Vijay Singh was attacked with sharp-edged weapons near the Polo grounds in Patiala town, 80 km from here, while he was taking an evening walk.
The additional district and sessions judge announced the sentence here Friday afternoon.
The prosecution had told the court that Ravdeep had developed animosity towards the judge after she fell in love with him but he refused to marry her.
Ravdeep, who ran a private nursing home in Patiala, was insisting that Vijay Singh divorce his wife and marry her. The judge, who had three daughters, had refused to do so.
The prosecution said that Ravdeep, who was in touch with the priest, promised to pay him Rs.500,000 for eliminating the judge.
Police found that the judge was brutally murdered with at least 25 stab wounds on his body with sharp-edged weapons.
The murder case had to be shifted from Patiala courts to Chandigarh as lawyers in Patiala had refused to defend the accused woman doctor and the priest.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs.50,000 each on both the guilty.
