New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS): Madhavi Vishwanathan, the mother of journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, who was shot dead while driving home from work in 2008, said that her family is living in "life imprisonment" in a way.

Madhavi Vishwanathan was present in the Saket court on Saturday when Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey sentenced the four men convicted in the 2008 murder case of her daughter to life imprisonment, while the fifth convict was sentenced to three years imprisonment.

Saying that the offence does not fall in the category of "rarest of rare" cases, the court refused to grant the request for the death penalty.

Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar have been sentenced to life imprisonment and Ajay Sethi sent to jail for three years.

Early on September 30, 2008, Soumya was shot dead on the Nelson Mandela Road in south Delhi. The Vasant Kunj police station received information about the incident at 3.45 a.m, and a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code was filed.

She was found dead in her Maruti Zen car with blood oozing from her head. Police also recovered an empty bullet shell from the spot and began its probe.

Following a year-long investigation, a significant breakthrough occurred on March 21, 2009, when the body of techie Jigisha Ghosh was discovered in Faridabad.

Subsequently, three accused, Kapoor, Shukla, and Malik, were arrested in connection with Ghosh's case. During interrogations, Malik allegedly disclosed the involvement of the other accused in Vishwanathan's murder, leading to the arrest of Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi, who dealt in stolen vehicles.

Kapoor, who had a long criminal history for car theft, was apprehended in March 2009, and the pistol used as a murder weapon was reportedly found in his possession.

It was suggested that Kapoor initially attempted a robbery, shooting Vishwanathan when she didn't stop.

In custody, Kapoor made several attempts to escape included throwing chilli powder at police and displaying a knife during court hearings.

Shukla, Kapoor's accomplice, fled Delhi shortly after the murder, returning just before the Ghosh case.

Malik, a.k.a Poppy, provided a crucial breakthrough by admitting his involvement in the 2008 murder during his arrest in connection with the Ghosh murder case. Ajay Kumar, a key link in the chain of events, evaded arrest but was eventually apprehended in 2009.