Court sentence murder accused to me imprisonment
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 23 2018:
Binny Ngangom, Additional Session Judge, Fast Track Court for Crime Against Women, Manipur, today, sentenced a 47 year old individual to life imprisonment for murdering his wife.
The murder convict, Hijam Shanti (47) s/o (L) H Nabakumar of Uchathon village, Jiribam, was convicted by the Additional Session Judge, on November 12 for murdering his wife on the night of June 4, 2013, before fixing today for the sentence hearing to announce the quantum of punishment for the crime.
The convict was produced before the Court for the sentence hearing today morning.
During the hearing, the Court heard the submission of Special PP, Sushila Devi and counsel of the convict, Advocate Tejkumar.
The Special PP submitted that the deceased was only 30 years old at the time of her death and left behind three children and as such, prayed for awarding life imprisonment to the convict.
The Special PP also prayed for providing victim compensation to the children of the deceased.
On the other hand, the defense counsel of the convict stated that the convict is the sole bread earner of the family and he is a heart patient as well.
As there is no one to look after the children, the defense counsel prayed for awarding a lighter sentence to the convict.
After carefully examining and considering the relevant factors and in the light of the facts and circumstances of the case, the Court sentenced the convict to life imprisonment under section 302 (murder) along with a fine of Rs 5,000 ruling that in default of payment of the fine, the convict has to undergo three months of simple imprisonment.
The Court further sentenced the convict to seven years of rigorous imprisonment under section 20-1 IPC (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed) along with a fine of Rs 1000 and ruled that in default of payment of the fine, the convict has to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one month.
The Court further announced that the sentences announced by the Court should run concurrently.
The Court further ruled that the convict can appeal against the judgment order and sentence within 30 days as per Article 115 of Limitation Act.
It may be mentioned that on June 4, 2013, at around 5.30 am, the victim was found dead in a suspicious manner at her homestead located at Uchathol village, Jiribam and following the discovery, of the dead body, the convict was arrested for interrogation.
During the course of the investigation, the convict divulged that the previous day, June 3, at around 8 pm, he had quarrelled with his wife (the deceased woman) at their residence due to which he punched and kicked his wife on her face while the victim was preparing food in the kitchen.
The doctor who conducted the post mortem at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Silchar, had opined that the cause of death was due to the coma resulting from the injuries sustained on the head and that all the injuries sustained by the victim were ante mortem and inflicted by a blunt object and homicidal in nature.