Life Imprisonment for Salon Chain Employees in Kriti Vyas Murder Case

Two former employees of a salon chain in Mumbai have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of their senior, Kriti Vyas. The court found the accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt, even in the absence of the victim's body. Vyas, a chartered accountant, was a crucial financial supporter for her family.

A court here on Tuesday sentenced two former employees of a salon chain to life imprisonment for the murder of 28-year-old finance manager Kriti Vyas, their senior at the firm, holding that the prosecution proved the case beyond reasonable doubt even though the victim's body was never found.

Vyas, a chartered accountant, was her family's ''financial pillar'' and her death in March 2018 plunged them into misery, the sessions court said while deciding the quantum of sentence.

The prosecution proved each and every circumstance in the case against accused Siddhesh Tamhankar and Khushi Sahjwani ''beyond reasonable doubt'', the court held. In the absence of body, the prosecution's case was based on the `last seen together' theory and circumstantial evidence. The court, however, held that it did not rely solely on uncorroborated circumstantial evidence or `last seen together' theory, but each and every circumstance was proved beyond reasonable doubt. Additional sessions judge M G Deshpande had on Monday convicted Tamhankar and Sahjwani under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code. All the evidence produced before it conclusively established that the accused strangled Vyas in a car ''using means known only to them,'' thereby committing culpable homicide amounting to murder under section 302, the court said.

The presence of blood stains and the DNA analysis report confirmed this conclusion, it said. It was also proved ''beyond reasonable doubt'' that after murdering Vyas, both the accused, ''in furtherance of their common intention'', disposed of evidence and her body, constituting an offense under IPC section 201, the court said.

Tamhankar was an account executive and Sahjwani an `academy manager' at a salon chain in suburban Andheri, and both reported to Vyas. The accused duo were in an illicit relationship, as per the prosecution.

They killed Vyas because she had issued them a memo for not working diligently, and the duo were afraid that besides losing jobs, their affair might to come to light because of her action, the prosecution told the court.

Police cracked the case following a DNA test on the blood found in the car of one of the accused. The car was used in the crime, police said.

Vyas, a resident of Grant Road area in south Mumbai, went missing on March 16, 2018. As per her family, she used to board the 9:11 am Virar-bound suburban train from Grant Road station to go to her office in Andheri.

The case, initially registered at DB Marg police station, was handed over to the crime branch which arrested the accused duo as Vyas had been last seen in their company. The prosecution successfully established all links forming the chain of circumstances, the court said in the judgement, adding that there was no ''straight-jacket formula'' that a case based on circumstantial evidence is weak and can never be proved beyond doubt. While sentencing the accused, the judge said he had given a thoughtful consideration to their age, family background, and their future. At the same time, the court cannot ignore that a young 28-year-old chartered accountant ''mysteriously disappeared from the company of both accused'', the court said.

''It is a fact that her parents are old and she has an unemployed sister. All of them were dependent on Kriti's earnings. As such, she was a financial pillar of her family and ever since her disappearance (it) dragged her family in such difficulty and misery which cannot be explained in words,'' the court said.

The family background of both the accused was such that they cannot pay any compensation to the victim's family, it said. It was a fit case for awarding compensation to the victim's family, the court said, asking the District Legal Service Authority to decide the quantum of compensation.