Pune: Engineer Gets Life Term For Throttling Sister To Death In Bavdhan Flat In 2010

Pune, 25th September 2026: A sessions court on Thursday sentenced an engineer to life imprisonment for throttling his 23-year-old sister to death at their rented flat in Bavdhan in the early hours of April 14, 2010.

Additional sessions judge Anilkumar K Sharma rejected the defence plea that the accused, Subhojit Basu, was legally insane due to severe depression. The court also refused to dilute the charge from murder under Section 302 of the IPC to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304-II.

Basu, who was 29 at the time of the offence, had returned from the US shortly before the incident and was working on a robotic toy business incubator with support from CSIR-NCL. He lived in the Bavdhan flat with his sister, Priyadarshini, who worked with Greenpeace.

According to the prosecution, Basu attempted suicide after the killing by slashing his wrists and consuming phenyl. He later contacted his former IIT professor, who alerted the police. A Hinjewadi police team subsequently reached the flat.

The defence claimed that Basu was suffering from severe depression and was attempting suicide when his sister tried to stop him, leading to a scuffle during which he allegedly pushed her by the neck, causing her death.

The court, however, held that the evidence established that Priyadarshini died a homicidal death and that Basu was responsible for it.

During the trial, psychiatrist Dr Nishikant Thorat testified that Basu suffered from severe depression, with an HDRS score of 37, but showed no symptoms of insanity. The court noted that Basu was conscious and oriented, had no delusions or perceptual abnormalities and understood the consequences of his actions.

The prosecution examined nine witnesses, including Basu’s former IIT professor. The court also considered Basu’s lack of previous criminal antecedents as a mitigating factor and held that the case did not fall under the rarest of rare category warranting the death penalty.

Basu, who had been out on bail for over two months after his arrest, was taken into custody following the sentencing.