In Brief
A man was convicted of murdering four family members—a woman, her husband, their 11-year-old daughter, and an 80-year-old grandmother—by breaking into their home and killing them with knives and an iron rod. The trial court sentenced him to death, but the High Court reduced it to life imprisonment without remission for 30 years. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction based on circumstantial evidence including fingerprints, handwriting, injuries, and the accused's presence at the scene. However, the Court reduced the non-remission period from 30 to 25 years, applying the "Swamy Shraddananda principle" which allows courts to impose life sentences with extended non-remission periods as an alternative to capital punishment in grave but non-rarest cases.
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