A court on Monday sentenced three people to life imprisonment for the kidnapping, ransom and murder of 50-year-old Binod Khadgi of Kirtipur Municipality-5, Kathmandu, on 2002.
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The Kavrepalanchok District Court has sentenced three people to life imprisonment for murdering a woman by trapping her in a 'honeytrap'.
The court sentenced three people involved in the kidnapping, ransom and murder of 50-year-old Binod Khadgi of Kirtipur Municipality-5, Kathmandu, on Asoj 20, 2081, to life imprisonment on Monday.
The main accused in honey trapping Khadgi is Manisha Mahat, a resident of Sunkoshi Rural Municipality-2, Sindhupalchowk, currently residing in Thimi Municipality-9, Madhyapur, Ashish Paswan, a resident of Gaushala Municipality-6, Mahottari District, currently residing in Kaushaltar, Bhaktapur, and Pratik Gautam, a resident of Baglung Galkot Municipality-7, currently residing in Koteshwor, Kathmandu.
The Kavrepalanchowk District Court sentenced Mahat, Paswan and Gautam to life imprisonment, informed the court's clerk Indira Karki. The court has also ordered them to pay compensation of Rs 200,000 each to the victim and deposit Rs 2,800 each in the Victim Relief Fund.
The court has also found Sarin Ghimire of Shankarapur Municipality-5 in Kathmandu guilty in this case. Another hearing has been scheduled for her to determine the sentence. Anshu Khan and Shivam Singh Rajput, who were allegedly involved in this case, are absconding, while the other defendants Roshni Mahat, Sanjay Khatri, Menuka Mahat and Dipesh Poudel have been acquitted.
According to the police investigation, on the night of 2081 BS Asoj 5, Manisha called Khadgi to her room on the pretext of needing help in making a copy of her citizenship. After eating, Khadgi was beaten up and injured, and initially a ransom of Rs 3 million was demanded. Later, an agreement was reached for Rs 500,000 and the amount was received through Khadgi's employee in front of Bhatbhateni in Radhe Radhe.
After taking the ransom money, Manisha, Ansu, Shivam, Ashish and Prateek had tied Khadgi's hands and legs and beaten him up. Police investigation revealed that they had hired a goon from Bhaktapur and killed him by hitting him with a brick on his chest.
After the murder, the body was dumped in a 49-kilometer dump in Panchkhal-8. According to the police, after the murder, they had said in their statements that 1 lakh rupees were distributed from the ransom money to Manisha, 10 thousand to Prateek, 20 thousand to Ashish and 50 thousand to Ansu's sister Roshni Mahat.
