30 April 2004 :

Indian serial killer Shashi Shekhar was ordered to serve consecutive life terms after a judge told him the death sentence was not punishment enough for his crimes. Shekhar, 28, was given life for strangling two maids in 1995 and 1996 and robbing the homes of their employers. He was already serving a separate life term for two previous murders. "It will be more apparent if the convict is kept in judicial custody for a longer period than to take his life. It will be more painful than dying an early and instant death," Additional Sessions Judge D. S. Puniya said. A life sentence lasts approximately 14 years in India.