While I was (and remain) a cynic about Sylvia and women in general my approach was (and remains) more tolerant. Killing of a wife for an `extra marital affair` seemed too drastic. I also thought that Sylvia was manipulative and shifted her loyalities to her husband once Ahuja was dead.

But the Nanavati who was to me hero earlier changed by and by. His changed his statements to save his skin (on the advice of his advocates) and took advantage of the legal loopholes.

The man who had courageously admitted to killing Ahuja took shelter behind the `accident` theory. The jury was swayed and 8 out of 9 accepted the version of defence that kiling of Ahuja was by sheer accident and declared him NOT GUILTY. But the Judge stated: Majority verdict of the jury is such that no reasonable body of men could, having regards to the evidence, bring in such verdict. The case was referred to a divisional bench where he was considered guilty of deliberate murder and convicted and sentenced to life.

Governor (Sri Prakasa) interfered, suspended this sentence so that Nanavati could appeal in Supreme Court.

Everyone knows that due to his political clout and the pull of his family he served only 3 years and was given a pardon because of his services to navy.

I believe that he left the country along with his wife to avoid a life of stigma...which, again, is not like a hero would behave.

Prem Ahuja. I think men hated him, women were curious...