New Delhi, India

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After 15 years of court trial, a Delhi court on Wednesday convicted five men for the murder of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan.

The Delhi court held Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ajay Kumar guilty of murder while convicting Ajay Sethi of stealing property under the sections of MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) 1999.

Soumya's mother, Madhavi Vishwanath, told Hindustan Times, "We have been fighting for 15 years. It's a relief, but we have lost our daughter." She said," We are not in favour of the death penalty. We want them to suffer like we are suffering."

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Here's everything you need to know about the Soumya Vishwanathan murder case before the court announces the quantum of sentence for the convicted men.

What's the Soumya Vishwanathan Murder Case?

On 30 September 2008, Soumya Vishwanathan, a 25-year-old correspondent working with India Today, was found dead in her car on Nelson Mandela Marg in South Delhi. She was reportedly returning home from work at 03:30 am. 

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Initially, the cops struggled to find her killers. But during a 2009 investigation into the murder of BPO employee Jigisha Ghosh, one of the accused confessed to being involved in Soumya's murder.

In April 2009, the Delhi police charged the accused under the MCOCA in the Soumya Vishwanathan murder case. They filed a chargesheet against five men, Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi in June 2009.

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The authorities charged them with murder, robbery, and other offences in 2010.

In August 2016, a trial court sentenced Ravi Kapoor and Amit Shukla to death in the 2009 Jigisha Ghosh murder case while sentencing Baljeet Malik to life imprisonment. However, in January 2018, the Delhi High Court upheld Malik's sentence while commuting Kapoor and Shukla's death sentences to life imprisonment. 

On 27 February 2019, Malik filed a plea in the Delhi High Court to speed up the trial.

Finally, in May 2023, after 15 years of her murder, final arguments commenced after the court concluded the recording of evidence. 

On 13 October 2023, Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey reserved the judgment in the case after the completion of arguments by the defence and prosecution. Five days later, on 18 October 2023, the Delhi court convicted Kapoor, Shukla, Kumar and Malik for Soumya Vishwanath's murder and Sethi for receiving stolen property under the MCOCA. 

The court has set the date for sentencing on 26 October 2023. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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