Sonia A First Woman To Be Hanged
Former Haryana MLA Relu Ram Punia’s daughter Sonia will be the first woman in this country to be hanged after President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday rejected her mercy petition.Sonia and her husband Sanjeev had been awarded death sentence for killing eight persons including her MLA father for inheriting family property in 2001.
The death penalty of Sonia and her husband was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2007 for the gruesome murders over property dispute. The couple is lodged in Ambala jail at present.
Though courts have imposed death penalty on women, there is no instance of any woman being hanged in the history of independent India.
Terming the rejection of mercy petition as a victory of justice, advocate Lal Bahadur Khowal said, “A petition will be filed in the court to fix date of Sonia’s execution.” Brother of Relu Ram and petitioner, Ram Singh also expressed satisfaction over upholding the hanging of Sonia and Sanjeev.
Earlier, the couple along with a few Pakistani spies had tried to escape from jail by digging a tunnel. Sonia had written a letter to the then President on February 17, 2009 requesting that decision be taken soon on her mercy petition.
Those killed included her mother Krishna, sister Priyanka, stepbrother Sunil, his wife Shakuntala and their three children - Lokesh, 4, Shivani, 2, and 45-day-old Preeti.
Sessions Judge had awarded death penalty to the couple on May 31, 2004. Later on April 2, 2005, High Court commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment.
After the rejection of review petition, Sonia and Sanjeev had filed a mercy plea to the then President Pratibha Patil.
(JPN/Bureau)
Courtesy: Jagran
