Greater Noida: Man gets lifer for killing wife, 2 daughters in 2011
He dumped the bodies into Upper Ganga Canal after defacing them with acid on the night of January 10, 2011, in Durrai locality under Badalpur police station
A Surajpur court on Monday awarded life imprisonment to a 41-year-old man for murdering his wife and two daughters over dowry demand and marital disputes in 2011, prosecution officials said.
The convict, Omdutt Sharma, was arrested on January 14, 2011 by the Greater Noida police for allegedly killing his wife Bhumika, 24, and their two daughters Sakshi, 6, and Prachi, 2.
He dumped the bodies into Upper Ganga Canal after defacing them with acid on the night of January 10, 2011, in Durrai locality under Badalpur police station, officers said.
Sharma was 28 years old and used to work at a factory at that time. The bodies of Bhumika and Sakshi were fished out from the canal on January 13. But Prachi’s body could not be found.
RS Bhati, additional district government counsel (ADGC), said the matter came to fore after Bhumika’s father Parmanand (single name) lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Badalpur police station on January 12, two days after the three went missing.
“Bhumika married Sharma in 2004 and the couple had three children, two daughters and a son. As per Parmanand’s complaint, Sharma and his family, including his father Kalicharan Sharma, mother and two brothers, wanted ₹1 lakh as dowry, and physically and mentally tortured Bhumika over it. About 20 days before she went missing, Sharma dropped Bhumika at her maternal home stating that she should return only with ₹1 lakh,” said the ADGC.
Bhumika’s parents did not have that much money, but asked her to return to Sharma’s house.
“We sent our daughter Bhumika to her marital home in Durai. Today we got a call from a neighbour saying that our daughter and two granddaughters are missing for two days. On visiting their house, we found only my daughter’s father-in-law Kalicharan, mother-in-law Harvati and brothers-in-law, Satish and Suresh, at home, not my daughter or the kids. We found Sharma on the way and took him to the police station. We suspect that he is behind our daughter and grand daughters’ disappearance,” read Parmanand’s complaint filed on January 12, 2011.
Two days later, with Sharma’s help, police recovered his wife and elder daughter’s bodies.
Sharma was booked under sections of murder, assault, destruction of evidence, and cruelty against married woman of Indian Penal Code.
His parents and two brothers were booked under relevant sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
A charge sheet was filed on April 19, 2011. During the trial, prosecution presented 10 witnesses, including the deceased woman’s brothers, medical examiners and investigating officers.
Prosecution argued that Sharma killed his wife and the two daughters over dowry.
“Sharma also felt insecure as he suspected his wife of having an affair. Another reason was that Sharma had not been able to explain where he spent ₹40,000 that wife Bhumika had got after selling off land in her paternal village in Dadri. It often led to heated arguments between the couple,” said the ADGC.
Relying on evidence and witness testimonies, Chandra Mohan Srivastava, additional district and sessions court judge, sentenced Sharma to life imprisonment along with a fine of ₹50,000, for murder of his wife and daughters. His father, mother, and brothers have been sentenced to two years in prison under relevant sections of Dowry Prohibition Act.