Drawing heavily from Hindu, Islamic, Christian and Sikh scriptures, a district court in Madhya Pradesh sentenced a man to death for murdering his mother, observing that if a protector turns destroyer, “why would parents want to raise such a child?”
Special Judge L D Solanki on Wednesday pronounced the judgment, observing: “The one who bears the responsibility of protecting parents, who is the support in their old age, if that very protector becomes the destroyer, then why would parents raise such a child? If the fence itself starts eating the crop, then whom will the farmer trust?” the court observed in its order.
The judge underlined that if leniency was shown in such a case, “no childless parents will adopt any orphan child, and it will have a very adverse effect on society”.
Special Public Prosecutor Rajendra Jadhav said the incident took place on May 6, 2024, when Deepak Pachauri, a resident of Railway Colony in Sheopur, reported his mother, Ushadevi, missing after claiming she had left for the hospital and never returned. A missing person’s case was registered on June 8. However, inconsistencies in Deepak’s statements led to deeper police interrogation, during which he allegedly confessed to murdering his mother.
Deepak had been adopted from an orphanage in Gwalior 20 years ago by Ushadevi and her husband, Bhuvnendra Pachauri. His father had died in 2021, leaving him as nominee of a fixed deposit worth Rs 16.85 lakh, which Deepak later lost in the stock market.
His mother had Rs 32 lakh in her account and had allegedly refused to give him money when he demanded it. On May 6, when she was climbing stairs after bathing, he allegedly pushed her down, hit her with an iron rod and strangled her with a sari. He later allegedly buried the body inside the house, beneath the bathroom floor, using cement and bricks.
Judge Solanki’s verdict drew heavily from religious teachings to articulate the moral depravity of matricide. Quoting the Ramcharitmanas, the judge recalled Lord Rama’s reverence for his parents: “‘Listen mother, how fortunate are those who sleep. Those who are fond of obeying their father’s and mother’s words,” he said.
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The court noted that “Lord Rama is telling his mother…that [a] son alone is truly blessed who obeys the words of his parents… a son who satisfies his parents is rare in the entire world”.
The judgment also referred to the story of Shravan Kumar, the dutiful son who carried his blind parents on pilgrimage, to contrast with the accused’s actions. Turning to Sikh teachings, the court cited verses from the Guru Granth Sahib to state that” “one who serves mother and father knows his own salvation. “One who serves mother and father is called a true brave person. Without such brave people, how can the lineage continue?”
Borrowing from the Quran, the court said: “It is written that your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and be kind to parents. If one or both of them reach old age with you, do not…rebuke them, but speak to them respectfully”.
From the Bible, it cites Matthew 15:4, saying: “Honour your father and mother, and whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death”. Borrowing verses from Exodus, the court said: “Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death. Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death”.
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“These teachings,” the judge wrote, “command children to serve their parents until old age”.
The court sentenced Deepak Pachauri to death by hanging under Section 302 IPC, and seven years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 201 IPC for destroying evidence, along with fines of Rs 1,000 under each section. In case of failure to pay the fine, he will undergo an additional six months of rigorous imprisonment for each count.
“It is clear that the accused, out of greed for jewellery and money, did not let the deceased live, hit her head several times with an iron rod, which broke the skull… nose, caused lacerated wounds, injured bones… The accused strangled her with a saree and buried her in the bathroom with brick and cement. To hide the crime, he filed a missing person report,” the court said.
