INDIA: FARM HAND GIVEN DEATH TERM FOR KILLING COUPLE

a man in Fatehabad, India, was awarded capital punishment by a local court for the killing of a farmer couple in Raipur Dhani. District and Sessions Judge RS Virk sentenced Teja, alias Teji, to be hanged till death. Teja worked as a farm help for victims Gurdev Singh, 70, and Daleep Kaur, 62, who were killed on April 2, 2005. The couple employed Teja a few months earlier to help them in the fields and to tend to their animals. A hard drinker, Teja was reportedly annoyed with the couple on the fateful day as Gurdev Singh snubbed him. After consuming liquor in the night, Teja allegedly attacked Gurdev Singh and Daleep Kaur with an iron rod killing them on the spot and seriously injuring their daughter-in law Baljit Kaur. The police arrested him in Punjab a day after the crime was committed.