Dharamsala, November 11
After a 15-month trial, a local court today sentenced to four-year rigorous imprisonment all four accused medical students in the infamous Aman Kachroo ragging and death case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (Kangra) Purinder Vaidya pronounced the judgment after convicting the accused under Section 304 of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). Also, they were sentenced to three-month jail under Sections 352 (criminal trespassing) and 34 (common intention) and one month under 342 (wrongful confinement) of the IPC. All the sentences would, however, run concurrently.

Besides, a fine of Rs 10,000 was slapped on the convicts — Abhinav Verma, Mukul Sharma, Navin Verma and Ajay Verma — failure to pay which would invite an additional imprisonment of six months. The charge under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC was, however, dropped due to the lack of evidence.

The Judge said the ragging menace had to be dealt with sternly so that no such incidents were repeated.

Notably, it was at 2 am on the intervening night of March 6/7 that the accused told all the first-year students to come out of their rooms at the hostel of Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital in Tanda. After telling the juniors to line up in the gallery, one of the four seniors slapped Aman on the left side of his face, it was learnt. Aman rushed back to his room, saying his left ear had started bleeding. But the seniors forced their way into the room and brought him back, this time hitting Aman on the right side. They apparently chose Aman first as the latter had already complained to the college authorities once about the seniors.

The next day (March 7), Aman showed himself to an ENT doctor. He also filed a written complaint with the college principal against the four seniors. In the meantime, his father Rajinder Kachroo, too, called up the Himachal Pradesh Health Minister who, in turn, rang up the principal. An inquiry was initiated.

At around 7 pm on the same day, Aman reportedly went into a shock at the hostel. He was taken to the hospital where doctors declared him dead at about 7:20 pm. It was Aman’s complaint against the four accused that later served as the basis for the case.

During the arguments today, prosecution counsel demanded that the convicts be given the maximum 10-year punishment, as permissible under the sections they were convicted, saying the judgment should act as a deterrent for the society against ragging. The accused forced their entry into the victim’s room and beat him mercilessly also displayed their intention, the counsel argued.

On the other hand, the defence counsels demanded probation for the three accused, including Abhinav Verma, Mukul Sharma and Navin Verma, on the plea that they were below 21 years of age when the crime was committed. They even quoted the e-mail of Aman’s father Rajinder Kachroo in which he said: “I feel the administration of Tanda medical college is more responsible for the death of his son rather than the four accused in the case.”

For lowering the quantum of punishment, the defence even cited the “good conduct” of the trio in jail.

...A family torn apart: Photos from the Kachroo’s family album. Clockwise from top: The Kachroo family in happier days, Aman with friends and as a young boy