One acquitted, two convicts’ death penalty reduced to life imprisonment
TNR News Network
SHIMLA: In a significant development in the widely followed Shimla Yug m*urder case, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has reversed the 2018 verdict of the district court that had awarded the d*eath penalty to three convicts.
A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Rakesh Kainthla on Tuesday (September 23, 2025) commuted the d*eath sentences of two convicts to life imprisonment and acquitted the third.
The ruling came after the High Court reserved its judgment on August 11, 2025, following extensive arguments from both prosecution and defence. The defence argued that the convicts’ personal circumstances, including age and family background, warranted leniency. On the other hand, the prosecution maintained that the brutality of the crime placed it in the category of “rarest of rare” and justified capital punishment.
District court had awarded death in 2018
The original verdict, delivered by the District and Sessions Court, Shimla, on September 5, 2018, had sentenced all three accused to death for the kidnapping and brutal murder of four-year-old Yug.
The judge had described the case as “rarest of rare”, warranting the severest penalty under the law. The sentencing followed a detailed trial involving over 100 witness testimonies and an 800-page judgment.
The accused were found guilty of ki*dnapping Yug for ransom in June 2014 and subsequently m*urdering him in cold blood. The boy’s skeletal remains were discovered two years later, in August 2016, inside a water tank in the Bharari area of Shimla, with a stone tied around his neck.
Crime that shocked Himachal
Yug was abducted from Shimla’s Ram Bazaar on June 14, 2014, by three local men who demanded ransom from his family. However, instead of releasing the child, they threw him alive into a water tank, tied to a stone.
Despite extensive police investigations, it took two years before his remains were found. The case was handed over to the CID, which filed a charge sheet in October 2016. The trial formally began in February 2017.
The gruesome nature of the crime sent shockwaves across Himachal Pradesh, sparking widespread public outrage and calls for swift justice. With the High Court now commuting two d*eath sentences and acquitting one of the accused, questions are being raised about the long path to justice and the nature of punishment in heinous crimes.
