Man kills wife with mangal sutra, gets life sentence

A city court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment, who strangled a woman with the ‘mangal sutra’ in her neck. The court nailed the accused on the testimony of victim’s minor child.

A city court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment, who strangled a woman with the ‘mangal sutra’ in her neck. The court nailed the accused on the testimony of victim’s minor child.

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Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said, “The accused brutally murdered the woman in her house before her helpless minor children.”

According to the prosecution Bhagwanti’s minor son and her elder daughter were consistent in their statement against the accused Shamim alias Salim from the beginning of the trial.

The court noted that the child had seen Salim restrain her mother with one hand and with the other hand he was choking her with the mangal sutra in her neck. “The child has identified her mother’s killer in court,” said the judge.

Moreover, the sister of the victim had also claimed that there was a constant dispute between Bhagwanti and Shamim since the time he had asked her to dismantle her shanty. The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the accused, stating, “The accused has orphaned five children of the victim”.

According to the prosecution, the accused barged into the jhuggi of Bhagwanti on December 11, 2004, and strangled her. During the arguments in court, counsel for the convict Deepak Sharma sought lenient view, saying he has a family to look after, while public prosecutor Tofiq Ahmed requested the court to award severe punishment.