Jashandeep Badhan, a 20-year-old of Indian origin, was mentally competent when he killed 18-year-old Sara Centelleghe with 67 scissor stabs on the night of October 25-26, 2024. That is the conclusion reached by psychiatric experts appointed by both the court and the prosecution — a finding that clears the way for a life sentence.
The Assize Court, presided over by Judge Patrizia Ingrasci with colleague Roberto Palermo, had commissioned a psychiatric evaluation from expert Filippo Tancredi. Prosecutor Raffaella Latorraca’s own consultant, Sergio Monchieri, independently reached the same conclusion.
While the evaluation identified a range of psychological issues — including a personality disorder without further specification and moderate use of narcotics such as cocaine and cannabinoids — none were found to have impaired Badhan’s mental capacity at the time of the killing, according to Il Giorno news outlet.
Tancredi pointed to “anger management difficulties” and a “borderline narcissistic aspect.”
The murder
Sara lived with her mother in an apartment on Via Nazionale in Costa Volpino. On the night of the murder, her classmates threw a party for her. A friend of Sara’s had arranged a drug trade with Badhan — cocaine for hashish. The friend went downstairs to wait for him outside, but Badhan did not show up at the agreed meeting point. Instead, he waited for the right moment and slipped into the apartment, believing he would find more drugs inside that he could steal instead of trading.
While searching the apartment, he made enough noise while searching through a bag to wake Sara, who began screaming.
The brutality that came next was unbelievable. He first began punching her, but then he stabbed her dozens of times with a pair of scissors. Experts determined that Sara fought back and tried to defend herself before being strangled and dying on the floor of her own home.
Badhan fled through the garage. Sara’s friend returned shortly afterward, found the body, and raised the alarm.
From the earliest stages of the investigation, Badhan admitted his role in the killing. However, he claimed to have been heavily intoxicated at the time, saying he had consumed cocaine, opiates, and hashish that night specifically to “calm down.” The psychiatric evaluation has now rejected the drug consumption as a mitigating factor.
The trial is coming to a conclusion, and a verdict is expected on April 22. Badhan faces life imprisonment.
When asked about the psychiatric evaluation findings – which confirmed Badhan was mentally competent at the time of the killing – she offered a quietly heartbreaking response. “It changes little, because my daughter will never come back. She was my only child,”
At one of the early court hearings, upon seeing the defendant in the courtroom, she broke down in tears and was unable to hold them back.
The case has drawn criticism from Italian journalist Francesco Totolo, who wrote on X: “Does anyone remember 18-year-old Sara Centelleghe, killed in October 2024 with 67 scissor stabs in her home by a neighbor? No, right? The 20-year-old Jashandeep Badhan is not a ‘healthy son of the Italian patriarchy.’
Qualcuno si ricorda della 18enne Sara Centelleghe, uccisa nell’ottobre 2024 con 67 colpi di forbice nella sua abitazione da un vicino di casa?
No vero?
Il 20enne Jashandeep Badhan non è un “figlio sano del patriarcato” italiano. pic.twitter.com/Zh9cNjFrzJ
— Francesca Totolo (@fratotolo2) March 31, 2026The murder of the young girl has left her family, friends and community in deep mourning.
At a ceremony commemorating her life and the installation of a memorial, the 18-year-old’s classmates and friends displayed a white banner with the words: “Sara is always one of us”.
One of the speakers said: “Sara was our special friend, a young student who was approaching life full of dreams and hopes. She dreamed of being a surgeon.”
For Sara, this would have been the year of growing up; what happened to her is not right.”
