Overview
- On November 28, 2025, the Fast Track Special Court in Chandigarh sentenced Monu Kumar to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a 21-year-old student, with Additional District and Sessions Judge Dr Yashika delivering the order.
- The victim, Neha Ahlawat, was found semi-naked and dead near a taxi stand in Sector 38 West on July 30, 2010, and the case was closed as untraced in 2020 before being revived.
- CFSL Chandigarh reported in August 2024 that Kumar’s DNA matched semen and other biological material preserved from the victim’s clothes and internal swabs collected in 2010.
- Kumar was arrested in May 2024 after being linked to a similar 2022 Maloya rape-murder; investigators have also reported DNA links to a 2024 Sector 54 killing, with those trials ongoing and police examining possible ties to other cases.
- The court imposed fines totaling ₹1 lakh and rejected pleas for leniency, stating he “does not deserve any sympathy of the court,” while the victim’s family voiced satisfaction with the verdict.