On 27th March 2023, Ashtoshi Goswami was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined for murdering his own cousin Neelam Sharma and robbery on 20th February 2014.
Vijay Sharma, husband of Neelam Sharma left the house on 20th February 2014 with his daughter Nivedita and son Rajesh to attend a wedding in Firozabad. When the family returned, they were shocked by seeing the bodies of Neelam and their pet dog. By the time police arrived they also found that the jewels and cash kept in the house were also robbed. Neelam died because of the excessive blood loss which was caused by the 14 knife stabs in her body and the pet dog also had a 9 knife stabs in its body.
Police took custody of a few other suspects while Vijay Sharma was suspected of his parrot that might have witnessed the murder as it went silent, stopped eating and drinking.Then the parrot started to scream “Ash-Ashu-Ashu” with fear in front of the police. Ashu is the short name for Ashtoshi which the family members use to call him. Afterwards the police got an eye witness from the neighbour's house stating that they saw him leaving the house on that day.
Vijay Sharma said that Ashtoshi stopped coming to the house after Neelam’s death. After 5 days police arrested Ashtoshi and his friend Ronnie with the cash and the jewellery which was stolen. Nivedita Sharma told India Today that her father gave Ashtoshi 80,000 rupees to pursue MBA and he knows where we keep our cash and jewell.
This trail was slow as there was no direct or strong evidence. After Ashtoshi's confession that he planned the robbery with his friend and ended up killing Neelam as she resisted, the case was handed down after 9 years on 27th March 2023. In his sentencing the judge said,“It cannot be said that the testimony of the parrot was officially recognized under the Indian Evidence Act but the testimony of the parrot was at the centre of the trial process, and the police also acknowledged that the parrot played a significant role.” The judge also cited that Ashtoshi’s confession and Parrot’s special cries were the main source for ending the case.
Nivedita Sharma said that the parrot died after six months of the incident as it hadn’t eaten or drank anything. And her father Vijay Sharma died on 14th November 2020 due to covid. Nivedita Sharma gave a comment on the final verdict stating, “My late father wanted Ashu to be hanged. The whole family will continue to petition the supreme court for Ashu to pay the price he deserves”.
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2 comments
1 month, 2 weeks ago by
Sethu
Interesting one❤
1 month, 2 weeks ago by
SOMEONE
Good Article 👍🏻
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