High Court: Jail for Pallavi killer till his death, no parole/furlough

MUMBAI: Bombay High Court Monday upheld the 2014 conviction and life term of Sajjad Mugal alias Pathan, who, as a building security guard, was found guilty of entering lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha's Wadala flat on August 9, 2012, and murdering her.

Bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Neela Gokhale ruled that the life term will last for his natural life, without furlough or parole. "Motive is established. Sajjad wanted to have sexual relations with Pallavi. Witnesses confirmed he expressed this desire while in her flat," said HC. It added that parole was denied since he absconded in 2016 and was caught 18 months later near Pakistan border. HC said evidence showed a brutal killing of a woman resisting sex assault, stabbed 17 times, her throat slit to stop her from screaming.

Pallavi's boyfriend found her dead when he returned home late that night. Pathan, then 25, was arrested the next day. In 2014, a sessions court convicted him of murder, molestation and trespass but ruled out the death penalty, saying it was not the "rarest of rare" case. Calling lower court's order "well-reasoned and legally sound," HC dismissed appeals by state seeking harsher punishment, by the convict challenging his sentence, and by Pallavi's IAS officer father seeking the death penalty. HC said evidence, including matching DNA, injuries consistent with a scuffle, and Pallavi's keys found in Sajjad's pocket, proved his guilt.