Man gets two life terms in double murder case

A court here today sentenced a 29-year-old man from Mumbra to two life imprisonments in a 2012 double murder case.
The two life terms have to be served consecutively and not concurrently, the court ordered.
District and Additional Sessions Judge P P Jadhav convicted Azim Mohammad Hanif Shaikh for the murder of Zakhira Mohammad Fayyaj Qureshi and her brother Mohammad Farooque Abdulla Ajij alias Bablu.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on each count.
Prosecutor A V Kulkarni told the court that on the night of November 18, 2012, an argument broke out between Zakhira and her husband Mohammad Fayyaji. The accused, who is the son-in-law of Zakhira's sister, happened to visit their place. On seeing the couple quarrelling, he tried to pacify them and resolve the dispute.

However, the next morning, when the victims and the complainant were discussing certain issues, Shaikh landed there and accused them of abusing him during his attempts to broker peace the previous night.

When the victims tried to pacify him, he turned violent and attacked them with a sharp weapon, killing the woman and her brother, the prosecution said.
Zakhira's husband, Mohammad, who is the complainant in the case, suffered injuries in the attack.
Shaikh had been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace).
The prosecution told the court that Zakhira was three months pregnant at the time of the incident.

The court was also told that the attack was premeditated and the crime was committed right before the 14-year-old daughter and other children of the woman victim, the prosecution said.