Kurukshetra, Dec 22: A Kurukshetra court has awarded the death penalty to five persons for the murder of doctor Vanita Arora and dacoity at her residence in 2023, holding the crime to be heinous and falling in the “rarest of rare” category.
The verdict was pronounced by the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track Special Court), which sentenced Manish Kumar of Uttar Pradesh, Vikramjeet alias Bittu and Vikram alias Vicky of Kaithal, Poonam of Kurukshetra and Sunil Kumar of Hisar to death.
The convicts were found guilty under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 395 to 397 (dacoity), 460 and 201, besides relevant sections of the Arms Act.
The court ordered that the death sentence shall be executed only after confirmation by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, as mandated under Section 407 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). All sentences will run concurrently, it said.
Meanwhile, the court acquitted two other accused — Ketram, the doctor’s servant, and Umesh Kumar, the alleged arms supplier — citing lack of sufficient evidence against them.
Dr Vanita Arora (60) was murdered on the night of January 9, 2023, when robbers entered her house in Kurukshetra with the intent to commit theft. She and her husband, Dr Atul Arora, ran a clinic from the ground floor of their residence, while the family lived on the first floor.
According to the prosecution, the accused gained entry into the house on the pretext of buying a cake, as Dr Vanita also operated a bakery from the premises. During the robbery, when she resisted, she was struck on the head, resulting in fatal injuries.
Her husband was allegedly threatened at gunpoint, assaulted and robbed of cash and jewellery before he managed to escape and alert neighbours and the police.
During the investigation, police established the role of former maid Poonam and her associates in the crime. The court, while awarding the sentence, observed that the offence was premeditated and brutal, warranting the maximum punishment under law.
