Panvel man gets life term for murdering wife, 6-year-old daughter

The District and Sessions Court, Panvel, convicted Nagargoje under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to life imprisonment, imposing a fine of ₹50,000

NAVI MUMBAI: A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Panvel sessions court for murdering his wife and their six-year-old daughter in 2016. The prosecution told the court that Shrimant Nagargoje suspected his wife’s character, tried to make her murder appear accidental and later strangled their daughter, who had witnessed the crime.

Panvel man gets life term for murdering wife, 6-year-old daughter

The District and Sessions Court, Panvel, convicted Nagargoje under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to life imprisonment, imposing a fine of ₹50,000. He was also sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment under Section 201 and two years under Section 471, with fines of ₹10,000 and ₹2,000, respectively. The court further directed that ₹50,000 be paid to the complainant as compensation.

According to the prosecution, Nagargoje brought his wife and their six-year-old daughter from Jejuri to Panvel in the trailer he was driving. During the night, he allegedly murdered his wife and tried to portray her death as an accident.

He then allegedly strangled the child with a dupatta, fearing she would reveal what had happened, and left her body at an isolated location in Uran before fleeing.

Panvel City police initially registered an accidental death case against an unidentified person. Separately, the woman’s father approached Jejuri police station and lodged a complaint that his daughter was missing.

Nagargoje remained absconding after the murders in 2016. Senior police inspector Ajay Kumar Landge later formed a team under assistant police inspector Ganesh Dalvi to trace him. Acting on a tip-off, Dalvi and his team tracked him down and arrested him in Goa in 2020, nearly four years after the crime.

Police subsequently recorded witness statements, collected evidence and filed a charge-sheet against him.