5 women among nine family members get life for brutal 2013 murder of UP farmer

A Balrampur court recently sentenced nine members of a single family — including five women — to life imprisonment for the 2013 murder of a 55-year-old farmer, bringing closure to a case that had lingered for more than a decade.

The court held the nine — residents of Rajena village under Gaisahari police station limits — guilty of killing farmer Shiv Chandran, who was attacked and beaten to death while returning home from a temple on July 22, 2013.

The convicts lived in the same neighborhood as the victim, and all belong to the same Dalit community.

According to the prosecution, Chandran was confronted by the accused as he passed their house. Armed with a blunt weapon, they repeatedly struck him, leaving him grievously injured. When Chandran’s wife and son rushed to intervene, they too were assaulted and sustained injuries. The attackers fled, abandoning Chandran unconscious on the road.

Family members rushed him to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. His son, Bhageerat, subsequently lodged an FIR at the local police station, prompting a murder investigation.

Government counsel Naveen Tiwari said seven prosecution witnesses testified during the trial, establishing that the killing was rooted in a quarrel between the children of the two families just days earlier.

Investigators later concluded that the accused had held Chandran responsible and planned the assault in retaliation.

On November 6, the nine accused — who were out on bail — were taken into custody after the court pronounced them guilty. The sentence was delivered the following day, with each receiving life imprisonment.

Defense counsel Shameem Athahar said the convicts intend to appeal the verdict.