HC upholds life term for man who strangled live-in partner, her mother, two minor children in 2009

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court upheld the life sentence of Vinay Pratap Singh alias Bablu for strangling his live-in partner Babita, her mother Nandrani, and her two minor children in Hardoi in 2009.

The division bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary dismissed Bablu's appeal on July 27, affirming the 2014 trial court conviction under Sections 302, 307 and 404 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(2)(5) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The court found that the prosecution established guilt beyond doubt, rejecting arguments that the case relied solely on circumstantial evidence and that the last seen theory was doubtful.

The victims were found dead with nooses around their necks on June 24, 2009, and post-mortem reports confirmed death by ligature strangulation.