Four, including three of family, get life term for murdering rickshaw driver

Ahmedabad’s Sessions Court has sentenced four people including a husband, wife, and their son to life imprisonment for murdering a middle-aged auto-rickshaw driver who refused to withdraw court cases filed against them. The accused had stabbed the driver with a knife.

Additional Sessions Judge P I Prajapati, while delivering the verdict, said the case did not fall under the rarest of rare category to warrant the death penalty, but a stringent sentence was necessary to set an example. The court therefore awarded life imprisonment (jail till natural life) to all four convicts:

Kanaiyalal Solanki

Bhagyesh alias Chiku Solanki

Veena Solanki

Nilesh Kanjibhai Patel

What was the incident?

The incident occurred in the Naroda area of Ahmedabad. Ashwin Rathod, who lived in the area and worked as an auto-rickshaw driver, was confronted by the accused. On December 15, 2012, Veena Solanki and Nilesh Patel allegedly stopped him and asked him to withdraw the cases he had filed against them. This led to an argument, during which the accused became enraged and launched a deadly attack.

Ashwin Rathod suffered five to six stab wounds on the chest, ribs, and waist. He was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

The court accepted the prosecution’s arguments and imposed life imprisonment on all four convicts, including the three members of the same family.

Ashwin Rathod was stabbed five to six times on his chest, ribs, and waist, leaving him critically injured. He later died during treatment.

Accepting the prosecution’s arguments, the court convicted all four accused and imposed life imprisonment.