Rajasthan: Two life convicts fall in love in jail, granted parole for marriage

According to their counsel Vishram Prajapat, the parole was approved following a January 7 order by the Rajasthan High Court (Representative Image)

In an unusual turn of events, two convicts serving life terms in two separate murder cases fell in love while in prison in Rajasthan and have been granted parole to marry.

Priya Seth, 34, has been jailed for trapping a man on a dating app, killing him by strangulation, and concealing the body in a suitcase. Meanwhile, Hanuman Prasad (29) allegedly plotted with his partner to kill her husband along with her children.

Both were placed in an open jail in Sanganer, Rajasthan -- a setup where inmates have comparatively more freedom and interaction than in conventional jails.

According to their counsel Vishram Prajapat, the parole was approved following a January 7 order by the Rajasthan High Court asking the parole committee to take a decision on the applications within seven days.

“Acting on the court's order, the committee cleared their release, allowing the pair to step out of prison on Wednesday," he was quoted in the PTI report.

The duo were to get married on January 23.

Sources said the pair became close over the last year at the open-air prison, a facility run under the Rajasthan Prisoners Open Air Camp Rules, 1972, where certain inmates are permitted to work outside during the day and come back to the camp in the evening.

Seth was convicted for the sensational 2018 Jaipur murder of Dushyant Sharma (27), whose body was found stuffed inside a suitcase on the city's outskirts. Police said she had met the victim through a dating app, held him captive at her rented flat in Bajaj Nagar, killed him, and later disposed of the body. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2023.

Prasad, also convicted in 2023, was found guilty in a 2017 murder case in Alwar involving the killing of a man, his three sons and a nephew. Police said he had developed a relationship with the man's wife, Santosh Sharma, and allegedly conspired with her to murder the family after drugging the victims.

Sandeep Loharia, counsel for the victim's family in the Dushyant Sharma case, said they would challenge the parole order.

"We were not informed even after parole was granted. We will move the high court against the decision," he was quoted by PTI.