Barabanki court awards life term to two for murder of woman VDO

Lucknow: A Barabanki court on Tuesday sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the 2024 murder of a woman village development officer (VDO) over a land dispute.

District and sessions Judge Pratima Srivastava convicted Ramakant alias Pappu and Vijay Kumar, both relatives of the woman. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each.

Barabanki SP Arpit Vijayvargiya said the victim, Mala Devi, 50, was posted as a VDO in Barabanki. Her husband, Sanjay, had died under suspicious circumstances a year earlier.

Police said Mala had been trying to secure inheritance rights over 10-12 bighas of land belonging to her husband. However, her brothers-in-law, Pappu and Vijay, allegedly opposed the transfer of property and repeatedly threatened her.

On Oct 25, 2024, Mala’s brother, Nawal Kishore, lodged a complaint alleging that the accused had murdered his sister to grab the land and later hanged the body inside a room to portray it as suicide. Kishore alleged that his sister had earlier informed him that the accused used to threaten her, saying they would kill her and her brother just as they had killed her husband if she pursued inheritance claims.

Following the complaint, Safdarganj police registered an FIR under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder.

During trial, district govt counsel Amit Kumar and assistant district govt counsel Ashish Sharan Gupta presented evidence and witnesses, leading to the conviction of both accused.

The SP said the case was identified as a priority matter involving a heinous crime against a woman under the director general of police’s ‘Operation Conviction’ initiative.