A court in Gujarat’s Patan on Monday sentenced a 28-year-old dentist, Kinnari Patel, to life imprisonment for poisoning her brother and his 14-month-old daughter out of animosity towards her sister-in-law, and with an eye on her father’s property worth crores.
Refusing to count it as a “rarest of rare” case and awarding capital punishment as sought by the prosecution, additional sessions judge AK Shah said it still needs to send a message to people with criminal mentality so that they do not take such an action lightly.
The court also fined the accused ₹ 50,000 and recommended the victim’s wife, Bhumi, be compensated under the state’s scheme.
THE CRIME
On May 5, 2019, when they were on the way to their native village, Kalana, Patel offered her brother, Jigar, 32, a drink laced with dhatura seed extracts. As he fell ill, she forced a cyanide pill into his mouth, according to the prosecution. When he tried to reach for his car key to rush to a doctor, she hid it deliberately, leading to his death. She later dumped the car key in Ahmedabad.
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On May 25, she similarly offered glucose water mixed with dhatura seed extracts to her sister-in-law, after which she fell ill and had to be rushed to the doctor. While she was away, Patel used the opportunity to put the cyanide powder into the mouth of her toddler niece, Mahi, killing her.
The Patels are originally from Siddhpur, Kalana. Patel was not on good terms with her brother, as they had a property dispute. Patel’s industrialist father filed a complaint against her, suspecting her hand in the unnatural deaths.
“Her sister-in-law was her age and was also a dentist. She was jealous of her sister-in-law which prompted her to take revenge like this. Her greed for her father’s property also played a role in the murders,” said public prosecutor MD Pandya.
TRIED THE PILL ON SPIDER
To prepare the pill filled with potassium cyanide, Patel got in touch with a gold and silver trader. She used her position as a dentist and asked him to provide cyanide to make tooth caps.
Before giving the cyanide to her brother, she tried it on a spider, who died instantly.
Acting on the father’s complaint, Jigar’s body was dug up and fresh post-mortem was done. It revealed cyanide poisoning. While Patel confessed to the crime to police, she denied it in court. The court held her guilty based on circumstantial evidence.
Patel’s lawyer said that they will challenge the decision in the Gujarat High Court.
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Source: News18