The court of first additional district judge, Radha Krishna, sentenced a young Calcutta doctor, Rafiq-ul Mirza, to rigorous life term after finding him guilty in the murder of Chayanika Kumari case registered with Bagbera police on November 3, 2017.

The life term apart, the court also slapped a penalty of Rs 32 lakh on Mirza, 34, which has to be paid to Chayanika’s parents Arun Kumar and Anita Rani.

If Mirza fails to pay Rs 32 lakh, the court will realise the money by attaching Mirza’s properties.

Prosecution lawyer had prayed for Mirza’s capital punishment. The court declined, citing Mirza was a doctor.

Mirza was posted as a resident medical officer at BM Birla Memorial Hospital in Alipore, Calcutta.

A resident of Anil Sur Path at Uliyan in Kadma, and an operational manager at Adityapur’s Meditrina Hospital, Chayanika, 29, was murdered by Mirza, her boyfriend, when he discovered her infidelity.

Mirza strangled her to death in a room of hotel Ginger, Bistupur, on November 3, 2017, when she was combing her hair.

Mirza then bought a big strolley from Bistupur market and stuffed her body inside, taking the strolley to Tatanagar station parking and abandoning it.

During patrolling, sub-inspector Shibu Kujur found the strolley. On opening it, he discovered the woman’s body and her ID proof.

Kujur, posted at Bagbera police station, lodged an FIR, leading the police to arrest Mirza from the hotel room the next morning.

According to the prosecution, there were 14 witnesses in the case, including the then OC of Bagbera police station, Ramyash Prasad, who was the investigating officer of the case.

During the investigation, the police established that Mirza was in relationship with Chayanika for a long time, but he had come to know that she had another boyfriend in Durgapur.

According to prosecution, Mirza had checked in the hotel on October 31 and called Chayanika who met him continuously there. On November 2, Chayanika’s birthday, the two celebrated it by cutting a cake in the hotel room.

The next day, Chayanika came back to the hotel on her scooter from her workplace in Adityapur. Then, she and Mirza had an altercation after which he strangled her around 5pm.

According to the prosecution, the victim’s parents were not aware about her affair with Mirza or any other man. The parents were shell-shocked when they came to know their only child was murdered the same night.