Ahmedabad, May 5
A sessions court in Surat on Thursday awarded the death sentence to Fenil Pankajbhai Goyani, who was held guilty and convicted in April this year for the murder of Grishma Nandlal Vekaria. The court described the crime as the 'rarest of rare'.
The trial in the case started on February 28 this year. A total of 105 witnesses were examined and the trial ended on April 5.
The government appointed Nayan Sukhadwala as the public prosecutor. The court proceedings were conducted by District Judge, Vimal K. Vyas, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Sessions Court, Surat. And the accused was declared guilty on April 21 this year as per section 302, 307, 354 (d) (1) (I), 342, 506 (2) of IPC.
The 21-year-old girl Grishma Nandlal Vekaria, living in Laxmidham Society, was stabbed to death by accused Fenil Pankajbhai Goyani, in public at Pasodra in Surat village on February 12 this year. The girl's brother Dhruv Nandlal Vekaria and uncle Subhashbhai were also seriously injured by the accused. As soon as the incident was reported to the police, the police immediately rushed to the spot and arrested the accused. A video of the incident also went viral on social and news media. This incident was condemned by citizens from all over the state.
After the murder, the Home Department immediately constituted a SIT consisting of a DYSP level officer and 7 other officers to investigate the crime. The SIT collected oral, documentary, scientific, co-operative and electronic evidence and released a total of 2500 pages of charge sheet in just five days after detaining the accused. In this charge sheet, 27 eyewitnesses were listed and a total of 190 witnesses were examined. 62 articles were recovered.
Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi appreciated the police and court proceedings and said that the state government will never spare the perpetrators of such heinous crimes in Gujarat. "My promise to Grishma's parents to get speedy justice has been fulfilled now. The state government will take this fight forward as a result of the justice received in this incident. If any crime is committed in Gujarat, the state government will always strive to give strict punishment to the perpetrators and justice to the victims. The state government will work hard to work out a new strategy to prevent such incidents in the near future," he said.
