The Meghalaya High Court today reversed the trial court order which gave a clean chit to two persons accused of murdering a young student in 2006. It also sentenced them to life imprisonment for the crime.
The division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh in a judgement passed today also convicted Bernard Lyngdoh Phawa and Bonie Lyngdoh Phawa for the murder of 21-year-old Biplab Das, an undergraduate mass communication student of St. Anthony’s College, Shillong on February 20, 2006.
The High Court passed the verdict on an appeal by the State government against the order passed by the trial court on March 26, 2019 in the case.
“In the circumstances, the judgment and order impugned dated March 26, 2019 are reversed. The respondents Bernard Lyngdoh Phawa and Bonie Lyngdoh Phawa, are found guilty and convicted under Section 302 read with Section 201 IPC for the murder of Biplab Das and concealment of evidence thereafter. There was a common intention,” the High Court said.
The High Court also said both Bernard Lyngdoh Phawa and Bonie Lyngdoh Phawa are found guilty of committing murder and concealing the evidence of the offence.
Further, the High Court sentenced the two murder convicts to life imprisonment under Section 302 IPC and three years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 201 IPC. The sentences would run concurrently, in the sense that both Bernard and Bonie will serve rigorous imprisonment in the first three years and continue to remain in prison thereafter for life.
“It was a dastardly act that had been plotted out with the common intention of obtaining money from the victim – whether or not it was by way of extortion or by kidnapping for ransom – and the victim died a gruesome death as a result of the plan executed by the respondents. It is only just that the respondents face the appropriate consequence for their acts,” the High Court said.
It also directed the police to take Bernard and Bonie into custody immediately for serving out the sentences in accordance with law.
The young student (Biplab) was found not to have returned to his lodgings on the night of February 18, 2006. The following morning, a missing complaint was lodged with the Sardar Police Station in Shillong by the local guardian of the student.
The local guardian organised one or more teams of Biplab’s friends to go out in search of him. By the evening of February 19, 2006, at least one of the search parties had discovered a PCO in Mawroh from where Biplab had called a friend named Nirvika Singhania at or about 8:30 pm on the previous evening.
Bernard was a part of the search party that visited the relevant PCO, but while Bernard was waiting in a taxi, nearby another friend of Biplab was told by the PCO owner that Bernard was one of the persons who had visited the PCO around the same time the previous evening.
Bernard was arrested at 9 am on February 20, 2006 by Sardar Police Station and was charged with kidnapping for ransom under Section 364A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Following Bernard’s interrogation by the police, he referred to Bonie who was arrested on February 23, 2006. According to the investigating officer, Bernard, revealed on February 20, 2006 that a rope had been used for killing Biplab. The officer also testified at the trial that the dead body of Biplab was recovered on February 21, 2006, hinting that it was Bernard who led them to the dead body. The rope was recovered on February 24, 2006.
A post-mortem examination of the dead body was conducted on February 22, 2006. The report of the examination revealed that the death was due to strangulation. The medical expert indicated that the time of death was approximately 48 hours before the examination was conducted, which suggested that the date of death was February 20, 2006.
However, despite all efforts by the police through their prosecution lawyers to get Bernard and Bonie convicted for the crime, the trial court rejected the prosecution case that Bernard and Bonie, were the killers. The trial court on March 26, 2019 passed an order stating that Bernard and Bonie were innocent.
