“I term the act as one falling under the category of the rarest of rare cases, which warrant the death sentence. The convict, Rajkumar Khandelwal, hang till death,” Additional Sessions Judge B R Kedia said in his judgment.

The convict committed the murders in a hotel near the Old Delhi Railway Station three years ago. Khandelwal (41) killed his wife, Anita, and minor daughters — Alisha (10), Chamma (8) and Jyoti (4) — by first poisoning them and then strangling them, the prosecution claimed. The incident took place on the intervening night of July 4 and 5, 2005, at Hotel Gautam.

The court, while convicting Khandelwal for the murders, said: “The victims were innocent, helpless and defenceless and could not have provided an excuse, much less, any provocation for their murder.” According to the prosecution, Khandelwal, a businessman and proprietor of Jyoti Industries in Gaya, Bihar, had taken a loan of about Rs 12 lakh from Canara Bank in 2004. He ran into losses due and because of this financial crisis, Khandelwal was mentally and emotionally disturbance. He then decided he would get rid of his wife and three minor daughters, the prosecution said.