Hathras: A special SC/ST court in Hathras has sentenced two men to death for the January 22 murder of two minor sisters, aged 6 and 12. The verdict came within two months of framing charges against Vikas and Lallu Pal, who brutally killed the daughters of lecturer Chotelal Gautam while they slept in their Ashirwad Dham Colony home.
Court records reveal the assailants - one a distant nephew of the family - arrived at 9 PM on the pretext of visiting, shared dinner, then attacked the sleeping household at 1:30 AM. The girls died from slit throats while their parents survived multiple stab wounds. Special Judge Ram Prasad Singh noted the "rarest of rare" brutality in killing children who "hadn't even properly begun their natural lives."
Investigations uncovered the murders were contract killings ordered from Dubai by another nephew seeking property control. While the hired assailants received death sentences plus ₹50,000 fines each, the alleged mastermind remains abroad with his case pending. The 90-day trial saw 28 witnesses testify, including the surviving mother who identified the attackers.
