By IANS,
New Delhi : Two cab drivers convicted for the rape and murder of Australian tourist Dawn Emilie Griggs in the Indian capital four years ago were Monday sentenced to death by a city court.
Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Kumar awarded death sentence to the two drivers – Jyotish Prasad, 28, and Ashish Kumar, in his early 30s.
They were on Aug 2 held guilty of rape, murder, robbery and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
During arguments on the quantum of sentence, public prosecutor Vinod Kumar Sharma said: “Both convicts not only murdered a foreign tourist, but also killed the trust of a foreign nation. The offence is a stigma on the country.”
Griggs, 59, had landed from Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific flight in the wee hours of March 17, 2004, for a meditation course. She took a pre-paid taxi from the Indira Gandhi International Airport and was later found murdered in a nearby deserted field.
Opposing the prosecutor’s plea, defence counsel Vikas Arora said: “Different parameters cannot be applied just because a foreign national was killed. In a case based on circumstantial evidence, death penalty cannot be awarded.”
However, the court rejected the defence arguments and awarded death to the duo.