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Ms. Ram Tirath Kaur was working as a Computer Teacher
at Brilliant Computer Centre in District Hoshiarpur
since 2001. On 21.6.03 which was a Saturday, she attended
the Centre till 1.00 P.M. When the last three students
left, she along with the accused Sanjay Singh was present
at the Centre. The next morning her dead body was found
in the house opposite the Centre which was under construction.
Footprints were also found near the body which was subsequently
found out to be that of the accused Sanjay Singh.
On a complaint from the father of Ram Tirath Kaur,Mahilpur
Police registered a case and carried out the investigation.
They arrested the owner of the Computer Centre, his
two sons and a friend of his son. Later, on a Writ Petition
filed by the father of Ram Tirath Kaur, the Punjab and
Haryana High Court directed CBI to carry out the investigation.
CBI registered a case on 20.9.2004. During the course
of investigation, CBI obtained various reports from
Forensic Experts like DCFD, Hyderabad, CFSL, Chandigarh
on various clothes of the deceased and the accused,
blanket of the accused in which the dead body was wrapped
and dumped in the house opposite to the Computer Centre.
The experts found no semen in the clothings. The parents
of the deceased alleged that the samples have been changed.
Therefore, the CBI obtained the blood samples of the
parents and sent those to CDFD, Hyderabad which confirmed
that the swabs containing body fluids of the deceased
matched with the blood samples of the parents. The Laboratory
also opined that the blanket contained the body fluids
of the deceased Ram Tirath Kaur. Further, bloodstains
of the deceased were also found on the pants of the
accused Sanjay Singh and the foot prints found near
the dead body matched with that of Sanjay Singh. CBI
also examined medical shop owner who admitted that he
had sold three Zeepose tablets to Sanjay Singh, the
previous day. CBI also traced and examined Sonu and
Vickey, the two friends of Sanjay Singh ,before whom
the accused had confessed about the crime. CBI got their
statements recorded by a Magistrate. Armed with these
evidence, Sanjay Singh was confronted by the CBI and
after sustained interrogation he came out with the truth.
When Sanjay Singh was produced before the Magistrate,
he said that he was 18 years of age, in other words,
he was juvenile when he committed the crime. Therefore,
CBI requested the court to order for ossification test
to determine his age. The test confirmed that he was
more than 20 years of age and, as such, he was a major
at the time of the commission of the crime. Subsequently,
Sanjay Singh's statement was recorded by the Magistrate
in which he admitted to have served tea which he gave
to Ms. Ram Tirath Kaur at 11.30 a.m. that day with one
tablet of Zeepose. Again at 12.30 p.m. he gave another
cup of tea after mixing two more Zeepose tablets. When
the students went away at 1 p.m., Ms.Ram Tirath Kaur
fell asleep on the table. Sanjay Singh dragged her down
to the blanket and attempted to rape her. During this
time, Ram Tirath Kaur woke up and Sanjay Singh was frightened.
He strangulated her and killed her. Then he told his
friend Sonu about this who came and saw the dead body.
In the evening, he attempted to dig up the soil to dump
the body. However, the owner came and questioned him,
as a result he cancelled this idea. He was to go to
his native place to attend his brother's marriage. Late
in the night, he wrapped the dead body which was kept
in an unused bath room in the Computer Centre and dumped
it in the house under construction opposite the Computer
Centre. Subsequently, he left for his village and reached
in his village in Meerut, U.P. in the evening. The gold
chain and the wrist watch of Ms. Ram Tirath Kaur was
recovered from the bag of Sanjay Singh.
After completing the investigation, the CBI filed a
chargesheet against Sanjay Singh on 5.7.2005 for murder,
attempt to rape, outraging her modesty and theft. When
the came up for arguments for framing of charges, the
prosecution vehemently argued with reference to the
photographs of the dead and evidence on record including
seizure of the purse, sandal etc. of the deceased on
the information given by Sanjay Singh. On perusing the
evidence, Sanjay Singh submitted to the court that he
would like to plead guilt as he cannot escape from the
case. The court gave him three chances to reconsider
his response but he continued to plead guilty even on
the subsequent dates leading to the conviction.
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