HC upholds life sentence for husband and mother-in-law in a wife murder case

Team Udayavani, Jan 9, 2019, 12:10 PM IST

Bantwal: Through a verdict delivered on Tuesday January 8, the Karnataka high court (HC) confirmed life term awarded to accused in the murder of woman at Vittal in the taluk in the year 2011.

The murder accused Raveesh and Parvati, husband and mother-in-law of the victim Saraswathi respectively, had pleaded with the high court to annul the life sentence awarded to both the accused by the first additional district and sessions court in Mangaluru. Justice K N Phaneendra and Justice B A Patil of the high court division bench upheld the judgement of the lower court and dismissed the appeal filed by the sentenced accused.

The murder

The accused Raveesh from Vittal had discussed with his mother Parvati on the issue that he suspected the character of his wife Saraswathi. Parvathi advised him to murder Saraswathi. The two planned the murder and executed it on Freb 17 2011, successfully murdering Saraswathi. The murder was investigated by Vittal police who submitted the chargesheet to the Court.

Underage son stands as witness

When Saraswathi was murdered, the son of the couple identified as Lohit was nine years old and gave evidence on the case and identified his own father and grandmother as the murderers of his mother. The boy informed the police during questioning that his father and grandmother had hacked to death his mother in the front hall of the house with a sickle. This evidence decided the fate of the accused during the proceedings at the first additional district and sessions court in Magaluru. Even the division bench of the High Court observed that Lohit’s evidence was reliable before upholding the sentence.