New Delhi: Judge Krishan Kant Sharma’s wife, Ritu (45) who was allegedly shot in a crowded market area in Gurgaon by the family’s personal security officer Mahipal, succumbed to injuries late Sunday night, according to Hindustan Times. Their 18-year-old son has been declared “brain dead”.
The judge’s wife and son had gone shopping in Arcadia market on Saturday. At around 3 pm, Mahipal shot them after a minor dispute with the son. In video footage of the incident recorded by a witness, Mahipal is seen with the gun in his hand. He is also seen trying to push Dhruv inside the car. Ritu and Dhruv were admitted to a hospital in critical condition.
Pawan Choudhary, regional medical officer, Gurgaon Civil Hospital, confirmed Ritu’s death. According to Deepak Mathur, one of the three doctors conducting the post-mortem, the reason for Ritu’s death was determined to be excessive bleeding, Hindustan Times reported. The panel of three specialist doctors found two gunshot wounds on the right side and in the middle of the chest, Choudhary said.
Dhruv, who was shot in the head, has been declared brain dead and put on life support.
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Mahipal was brought to a Gurgaon court at 1 pm on Sunday which sent him to four-day police custody. The Gurgaon police have sought a week’s custody for extensive interrogation of Mahipal to establish why he shot Ritu and Dhruv. It has set up a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case.
“Mahipal is frequently changing his statements and becomes furious whenever he is questioned. He said he was depressed due to family problems,” said a senior police officer who is a part of the interrogation team.
In his statement, Mahipal claimed that he was unhappy with the judge and his family’s behavior towards him. He had been demanding leave to go home for the past few days but was refused, the aforementioned officer said. Another officer revealed that “the judge also used to scold him often”, leading to a “grudge”.
According to deputy commissioner of police (crime) Sumit Kuhar, “The PSO got irritated when Dhruv asked for car keys and took out his service revolver and shot at him and his wife”. Kant gave a written statement on Saturday night. In his statement, Kant mentioned that after committing the crime, Mahipal called him and informed him that he had shot his wife and son, the Hindustan Times report says.
A case under section 307 of the India Penal Code (Attempt to murder) and section 27 of the Arms Act was registered at Sector 50 police station. Police said they will add other charges to the FIR today.
Ritu’s family members had earlier decided to take her body to Hisar, her native city, for cremation. They later returned to Medanta hospital to donate her organs.
(With PTI inputs)