ITANAGAR, 9 Sep: Yupia Sessions Court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his wife and elderly mother-in-law with a wooden log at Banderdewa in Papum Pare district in 2024.

Sessions Judge, Yupia, Dr. Hirendra Kashyap sentenced Nabam Taya to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000. Taya had earlier been convicted under Section 302 of the IPC in connection with Banderdewa Police Station Case No. 14/2024.

The judgment was delivered on 17 August this year, while the order on sentence was pronounced on 7 September.

According to the case records, the incident occurred in the early hours of 26 February, 2024, at Anya Colony in Banderdewa. Taya's wife, Rarey Yagu Nabam, and his mother-in-law, Rarey Yakio, were sleeping in a room when they were assaulted with a wooden log.

Both sustained fatal injuries.

During the investigation led by Sub-Inspector S.K Singh, police recovered a wooden lathi measuring 94 cm in length and seven cm in circumference from the house. Blood samples and other evidence were also collected and sent for forensic examination.

The prosecution, led by Additional Public Prosecutor N. Bakhang, examined eight witnesses, including the informant, investigating officer and medical officer, during the trial.

Taya pleaded not guilty and also examined himself as a defence witness.

During sentencing, the prosecution sought the death penalty, arguing that Taya had killed his wife and her elderly mother while they were sleeping and that the brutality of the double murder warranted the maximum punishment.

The defence, however, sought leniency, contending that Taya had no previous criminal antecedents and that the offence was not premeditated.

Relying on the Supreme Court's principles governing capital punishment, the court held that although the offence was heinous and involved a double murder, the aggravating and mitigating circumstances did not tilt the balance in favour of the death penalty.

The court observed that Taya had no previous criminal antecedents and said it could not presume that he posed such a danger to society as to warrant capital punishment. It consequently held that the case did not fall within the "rarest of rare" category.

The court also directed the District Legal Services Authority, Papum Pare, to provide adequate compensation to the next of kin of the victims under the Arunachal Pradesh Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011.

The court also informed the convict of his right to appeal before the Gauhati High Court if aggrieved by the judgment and sentence.