Poonia murders

The Poonia murders or Relu Ram Poonia murder case concerns the mass murder case of Indian politician Relu Ram Poonia and seven of his family members. The murders were committed by Ram's daughter Sonia, along with her husband Sanjeev Kumar, on the night of 23 August 2001, over a property dispute. The case was filed and Sonia, Sanjeev and various members of his family were tried. The couple was convicted of the murder charges and sentenced to death by the district court. The sentence was reduced to life imprisonment by the Punjab and Haryana High Court but the death sentence was reinstated by the Supreme Court of India. The couple remained in jail during the process when, under the section 72 (1) of the Constitution of India, a mercy petition was raised. The petition went unanswered by then President Pratibha Patil but was rejected by her successor Pranab Mukherjee. However, the couple's death sentence was reverted to life imprisonment after a petition was filed by the civil rights group People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) citing delays in the disposal of the mercy plea as grounds for clemency, which the Supreme Court accepted in January 2014.[1][2]

Crime

Relu Ram Poonia (age 50), his second wife Krishna (age 41), his daughter Priyanka (age 16), his son Sunil (age 23), his daughter-in-law Shakuntala (age 20), his grandson Lokesh (age 4), and his two granddaughters Shivani (age 2) and Preeti (age 3 months) were murdered at their farmhouse in Litani on the night of 23 August 2001, while they were asleep. Sonia, Relu Ram and Krishna's daughter, murdered the family by bludgeoning them with a heavy metal rod. The bodies were found in various locations inside the two-storey mansion when a servant arrived in the morning to take Lokesh to his school bus. Shakuntala was gagged, and her hands were tied, while no other signs of resistance by other family members was noted. Sonia consumed insecticide and was found unconscious the next morning and admitted to hospital at Barwala.[3] She had a suicide note that stated that she had killed her father because he did not love her.[4]

The previous night, Sonia had brought Priyanka to the farmhouse from a hostel to celebrate her birthday. Firecrackers were set off at midnight and servants mentioned that they saw Sonia come down to the garage and take away an iron rod. Later at around 4.45 a.m IST, Sonia drove away in a Tata Sumo returning in a few minutes. The servants informed police that they suspected that she left to drop off her husband from the crime scene. When police investigated, traces of opium were found in the kheer (rice pudding) that the family had consumed at dinner.[3]

Family

Relu Ram Poonia was elected legislator to the Barwala assembly segment as an Independent candidate in 1996. He had funded the Lok Dal's publicity campaigns and there was speculation that he would run for the party, but he did not. He contested the election as an independent candidate and gained a majority from sympathy votes. Post elections he provided support to the government formed by the Haryana Vikas Party headed by Chief Minister Bansi Lal.[5] He was born into a poor family but earned his wealth through the marketing of bitumen and oil on the black market for industrial usage in the Faridabad area. He invested in agricultural land and built a mansion at his native village Litani. Using the wealth he had accumulated, he made charitable contributions to local groups. He was known to have had cordial relations with the politicians Chaudhary Devi Lal and Om Prakash Chautala.[3]

Relu Ram had a son Sunil with his first wife Omi Devi and two daughters, Sonia and Priyanka ('Pammi'), with his second wife Krishna. Sunil was married to Shakuntla and they had a son Lokesh and two daughters Shivani and Preeti.[3] Sonia was married to Sanjeev Kumar. It was reported that Relu Ram and his wife Krishna did not have a cordial relationship. Similarly, Sonia had disputes with her half brother Sunil over agricultural land of around 46 acres (19 ha) surrounding their farmhouse. This often resulted in heated debates between the two, and weeks before the murders Sonia had threatened Sunil with a revolver.[5][3] After the murders, Relu Ram's brother Ram Singh Punia and his family moved into the farmhouse in 2004.[4]

Case

In May 2004, Sonia and her husband Sanjiv Kumar were found guilty of murdering Poonia and seven other members of his family by a District and Sessions Court. The motive behind the murders was ascertained to be a property dispute between Sonia and her half brother Sunil. The court sentenced both of them to death.[6] Kumar's eight relatives including his father, mother, and brother were acquitted of the charges.[5] Public prosecutor P. K. Sandhir mentioned that the case was difficult to argue as it was based on circumstantial evidence. A total of 66 witnesses were examined out of more than 109 listed.[4]

The Punjab and Haryana High Court reduced the couple's death sentence to life imprisonment in 2005. The death sentence was later reinstated by the Supreme Court in 2007.[7] In October 2007, the Governor of Haryana rejected the couple's plea for mercy. Thereafter, Sonia and Sanjeev filed a mercy petition with the President of India who, under section 72 (1) of the Constitution of India, can grant clemency. In February 2009 Sonia wrote to President Pratibha Patil pursuing a decision of their mercy petition.[8] She requested that her mercy plea be rejected and that she be given the death sentence as imprisonment was becoming difficult for her. She wrote: "It is getting impossible to live like an insect in solitary confinement. My life is becoming horrible and giving me more and more pain by every second passing ... I don't have any means to live and want to die once rather than dying with each passing minute".[7] Her letter was sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs wherein P. Chidambaram, then Home Minister, asked the President to reject her plea noting that "even though Sonia is a woman, considering the nature of her crime, she doesn't deserve sympathy."[7] During the process, the couple remained imprisoned at the Ambala jail.[7]

In April 2013, President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the clemency request.[9][10] However, a civil rights group called the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) filed a petition with the Supreme Court to withhold the death sentence citing delays in rejecting the mercy plea, which the court accepted. Justices P. Sathasivam and M. Y. Eqbal stayed the execution.[11][1] Later in January 2014, the Supreme Court gave life terms to thirteen more death-row inmates on same grounds.[2]

References
  1. Nikita Doval (2 September 2014). "The case of the sisters on death row". Live Mint. Pune. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  2. "Delay in Deciding Mercy Plea Ground for Commutation of Death Penalty: SC". Indian Express. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  3. Mohan, Raman (25 August 2001). "Ex-MLA, 7 others killed: Daughter clubs them to death, attempts suicide". Tribune India. Hisar. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  4. Chinki Sinha (31 May 2009). "'She wanted this house, it's now a graveyard'". Indian Express. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  5. "Daughter, son-in-law get death for killing ex-MLA Punia". Tribune India. Hisar. 1 June 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  6. "Murder cases that hogged media headlines". Business Standard. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  7. Maneesh Chhibber (31 May 2009). "Let me die, says woman on Death Row for killing 8, Govt tells President show no mercy". Indian Express. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  8. Varinder Bhatia; Manish Sahu; Johnson T A; Sanjay Singh (17 April 2013). "They murdered entire families for land, loot or revenge". Indian Express. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  9. Sandeep Joshi (6 April 2013). "Pranab clears way for first-ever hanging of a woman". The Hindu. New Delhi. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  10. Shreya Biswas (22 August 2015). "Yakub Memon and 23 other mercy pleas rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee". India Today. New Delhi. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  11. "SC stays execution of Haryana ex-MLA's daughter, 7 others". Tribune India. New Delhi. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
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