A court here on Wednesday handed death sentence to a 43-year-old man for murdering his relative and her minor daughter with the judge observing that the brutality of the crime “shook the judicial conscience”.

Padam Subba had killed Maya Subba, 50, and her daughter Pragya Subba, 13, at Upper Gairgoan in the Bijanbari block in September 2017.

While pronouncing the sentence, district and session judge Uttam Kumar Shaw said there could not be “a more heinous crime”. “I have no alternative but to hand a death sentence to you. This (order) is going for confirmation to the high court,” Shaw told Padam who nodded at the pronouncement and did not show any emotion.

Neighbour Damber Subba heard a loud scream of a girl emanating from the house of Maya at Upper Gairgoan around 10.30pm on September 1, 2017.

“When Damber and his wife were proceeding towards Maya’s house, he saw Padam in the area with a bamfok (a sharp weapon), which had blood stains, in one hand and torch light in the other hand,” public prosecutor Pranay Rai said.

Damber’s house is situated about “three minutes’ walk away” from the victims’ home.

Padam did not respond to the eyewitness’s enquiry but upon reaching the victims’ house, Damber found Maya lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen and the girl near the toilet.

“Such was the brutality that Maya was hit six times with the bamfok on her head, face, arm, shoulder and other places. The daughter had suffered five injury marks across the body and her index finger was also severed from the hand,” said Rai. Padam was arrested on September 3 and the murder weapon was seized.

“…….the subsequent brutal murder upon minor girl Pragya Subba shook the judicial conscience of this court and there should not have been any leniency in the matter of awarding punishment for these gruesome murders,” observed the judge.

The convict would frequent Maya’s house and help in household chores.

The charge-sheet was filed on November 12, 2017 and 18 eyewitnesses were examined during the trial. The court was also of the opinion that the crime had been pre-mediated and Padam had a propensity to commit murders and the killing “was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel”.

Upper Gairgoan is around 30km from Darjeeling.