The Calcutta High Court has commuted the death sentence of a man known as “Gurudev,” convicted of murdering two women, to life imprisonment with a minimum of 40 years without remission. The Court found that although the appellant was guilty of a gruesome double murder, the death penalty was not appropriate given his age and other circumstances, yet held that society required protection from him for a lengthy period.
The prosecution’s case described a scenario in which Gurudev and his wife promised healing or “cures” to the victims and their family in exchange for large sums of money. The victims were allegedly lured under the pretext of spiritual or faith-based healing. Specifically, in one instance a victim’s father, identified in the record as PW15, met Gurudev during a train journey while seeking treatment for his daughter who had burn injuries. Gurudev allegedly promised to help cure her, and eventually asked for ₹1,61,000, of which around half was paid. He insisted on performing rituals known as “Joggo” or puja, mixing medicines into consumables claimed to be sacred offerings (“Prasad”), which included sedatives. It was alleged that after taking the Prasad, the victims fell unconscious, and Gurudev smothered or throttled them while incapacitated.
When the bodies were found, several incriminating details were present: the victims were discovered in a tied condition, gagged, their physical state consistent with having been smothered; the autopsy report reinforced the conclusion that the cause of death was murder. Evidence showed that unused strips of sedative medicines including Cetirizine and Alzolam were recovered, supporting the claim that sedatives were used in concoctions given as part of the guru’s rituals.
At trial, Gurudev was convicted under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code. Charges under Section 376 (sexual assault) were dropped by the High Court due to lack of evidence. The Court upheld the convictions for murder and the destruction of evidence, but found no basis for the sexual assault charge.
In its judgment, the bench—Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi—considered the relevant Supreme Court guidelines for awarding the death sentence. Although the crime was egregious, including premeditation, betrayal of trust, cruelty, use of sedatives, and the exploitation of faith, the Court considered Gurudev’s age and other mitigating factors. Nonetheless, the pattern of his conduct—including habitual extraction of money from credulous people seeking spiritual or corporeal cures—led the Court to conclude that a long-term sentence was needed to protect society.
Thus, instead of death, the sentence was converted into imprisonment for life, meaning life without remission, for a term of forty years from the date of arrest. The Court determined this period as necessary given the severity of the offence and character of the convict. The High Court declined to disturb the murder conviction but modified the penalty in accordance with its court-established criteria.
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