Eleven years after a four-year-old boy was killed in celebratory firing during a wedding procession in Mohali’s Durali village, his 52-year-old relative was awarded seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
During the procession, a gunshot was fired which struck the four-year-old boy in the chest. He was rushed to Sohana Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Post-mortem examination concluded that the child had died of shock and haemorrhage caused by the bullet injury. The weapon was seized during the investigation. But the murder charge did not survive the trial. Three family members who were present at the wedding, including the child’s father, did not support the prosecution’s allegation that Singh had fired the shot. They were declared hostile. Singh also denied firing the shot.
The incident had taken place on February 15, 2015, when a wedding procession was passing through Durali village after prayers at a gurdwara. Police initially booked Singh for murder, alleging that he had fired his licensed .32-bore revolver.
The court rejected the plea, holding that there were no mitigating circumstances and that he did not deserve leniency. Singh sought leniency, telling the court that he was 52, worked as a labourer and was the sole breadwinner of his family.
