Rajkot: The principal district and sessions court in Junagadh on Thursday sentenced a 40-year-old woman to life imprisonment for murdering a man following a confrontation over bursting crackers last Diwali.Principal district and sessions judge S L Thakkar, in the judgment delivered on Oct 22, sentenced Jayshree Barad to life imprisonment for the murder of Divyang alias Yash Chudasama, her neighbour. The court also sentenced four other accused — Ram Barad, his son Ramsi, Raju Hun and Keval Joshi — to three months of simple imprisonment for voluntarily causing hurt.The incident took place on the night of Oct 20, 2025, near Amul Apartments. Chudasama and his friends were bursting crackers and there was a four-year-old child also with them.Around 1am, a “sutali” bomb was tossed across the road from the apartment complex, exploding inches away from the young boy. When Chudasama shouted at the group to stop throwing explosives in their direction, several people from Amul Apartments crossed over, leading to a heated exchange and a physical scuffle.Although the altercation was momentarily defused, Chudasama realised during the scuffle that his gold chain was missing. Believing it had fallen or been taken, he went towards Amul Apartments to confront the other party.An argument again flared up. Ram called for his son, Ramsi, to bring a stick and the latter assaulted Chudasama and his friends, Nishit Vaghela and Harsh Parmar, as they rushed in to intervene.During the fracas, Ram’s wife, Jayshree, rushed downstairs draped in a dupatta with her hands concealed. She confronted Chudasama, pushed him to the ground, and repeatedly stabbed him in the chest and shoulder with a knife hidden under her cloth.Chudasama collapsed into a pool of blood with severe arterial bleeding. He was declared dead at Junagadh Civil Hospital.His mother, Pushpa, filed the complaint at Junagadh ‘C’ Division Police Station later that morning.7cm deep wound inflictedDuring the trial, the prosecution examined 26 witnesses and presented a range of forensic exhibits.Dr. Rohit Karamata, the medical officer who conducted the post-mortem, testified that Divyang suffered 7cm-deep stab wounds to his chest and shoulder, slicing into his left lung. Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports corroborated the testimony.Crucial evidence also emerged from CCTV cameras at Amul Apartments, which captured Jayshree moving downstairs and returning with a stick around the time of the offence.“The court concluded that while the confrontation arose suddenly without prior premeditation or a common unlawful assembly to commit murder, Jayshree’s act of bringing a concealed lethal blade and delivering fatal blows directly to vital organs firmly established the charge of culpable homicide amounting to murder,” said additional public prosecutor D C Thakar.
