HC notice to death row convicts in triple murder case

The Delhi High Court today sought response from three persons convicted of killing three members of a family, including a child, nine years ago after the trial court referred the matter to it for confirmation of capital punishment awarded to them.
The trial court is required to refer a death penalty case to high court for confirmation of sentence within 30 days of pronouncing its verdict.
After awarding death penalty to Uttar Pradesh residents Surender, 32, Vijay Pal, 27, and Virender, 33, for "brutally" murdering three family members with a motive to rob their house nearly a decade ago, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau had referred the case to high court for confirmation of the sentence against them early this month.

Issuing notice to the convicts, a HC bench of justices Kailash Gambhir and Indermeet Kaur sought their response by November 12.
The trial court had said it was a "rarest of rare" case as the three murders were committed in "extremely brutal, diabolical, revolting and dastardly" manner and they have shocked the collective conscience of the society.
"This act of the convicts in brutally killing the three members of a family including an aged woman and a child, has invited extreme indignation of the community and shocked the collective conscience of the society whose expectation from the authority... Is to inflict the death sentence which is only natural and logical. This court cannot ignore the loud cry for justice by the society in this case involving heinous crime of murder," the court had said.

According to police, the brutal killings took place in a house in Rohini when the three accused murdered 54-year-old Mridula Kishore, her 28-year-old son Rajesh Kishore and her nine-year-old grandson Ankit on February 5, 2004.