A Mumbai court on Saturday delivered its verdict in the 2021 murder case of 19-year-old Jhanvi Kukreja, sentencing her friend Shree Jogdhankar to life imprisonment and acquitting another accused, Diya Padalkar.

Kukreja was killed on January 1, 2021, in a residential building in Khar, Mumbai. After the incident, police arrested Jogdhankar and Padalkar, both of whom were her friends.

Additional Sessions Judge Satyanarayan Navandar found Jogdhankar guilty of murder under the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, the crime took place after a New Year’s Eve party on the building’s terrace. Police said a fight broke out, after which Kukreja was assaulted and dragged down the stairs from the fifth floor.

The police had claimed the dispute was linked to Jogdhankar’s alleged closeness with Padalkar. However, the court acquitted Padalkar in the case.