A Jaipur court on Saturday sentenced three individuals to life imprisonment for the murder of Dushyant Sharma. Dushyant Sharma (28) and Priya Seth (27) connected on the dating app Tinder after sharing similar interests. After three months of app-based chatting, they decided to meet face-to-face. Priya invited Dushyant to a rented flat, an invitation he accepted with glee. However, their relationship, which began in February 2018, was built on a foundation of lies.
Dushyant was married, yet he used the fake identity of Vivian Kohli on Tinder, posing as a rich Delhi businessman. Conversely, Priya's intentions were far more sinister, starting the conversation exclusively with the intention of kidnapping him and extorting money. With the help of her accomplices, Dikshant Kamra and Lakshya Walia, they abducted Dushyant as soon as he entered the house.
Priya and her cohorts made a ransom call to Dushyant's family, realizing that the 'Delhi businessman' was not as wealthy as he claimed. When Dushyant's family couldn't pay the 10 lakh rupees, the kidnappers stabbed him multiple times and suffocated him with a pillow, leading to his death.
The kidnappers demanded a 10 lakh rupee ransom from Dushyant's father
In an interview, Dushyant's father Rameshwar Prasad Sharma recounted, 'We received a call from my son's phone. He was pleading, 'Dad, they are going to kill me, please pay them 10 lakh rupees to save me.' Then Priya snatched the phone and started hurling abuses at me, demanding that I deposit 10 lakh rupees into Dushyant's account. I told her that I didn't have that amount, but I could arrange 3 lakh rupees by 4 PM.'
Priya had seized Dushyant's debit card and forced him to share the PIN. After the father deposited ₹3 lakh, they used the card to withdraw ₹20,000. In the fear of getting caught, the three culprits ended Dushyant's life. His body was discovered on May 4, 2018, stuffed inside a suitcase in a village on the outskirts of Jaipur. Priya Seth confessed to her crime upon conviction.
To clear a debt of 21 lakh, the kidnappers meticulously planned the entire crime
Explaining their motive behind the crime, she said, 'He had not even told me his real name. He told me he was very wealthy. I was living in a live-in relationship with Dikshant, who was in debt for 21 lakh rupees. He was looking for someone to extract this amount from, which led us to plan together to kidnap someone, demand a ransom, and then to kill that person.'
Activist Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj had a conversation with the accused. When Deepika asked Priya why they killed Dushyant even after his father had transferred the money, Priya said, 'We had killed him before the money arrived. Initially, we tried to strangle him, then attempted to smother him with a pillow, but he survived. Then Dikshant asked me for a knife, with which he then slashed Dushyant's throat.'
What did the court say in its verdict?
The court, in its verdict, stated that the prosecution had 'presented ample evidence to prove these facts. The evidence brought forward by the prosecution established that the accused had committed the crime.' The courts found Priya Seth, Dikshant Kamra, and Lakshya Walia guilty under Sections 342 (kidnapping), 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
