A court in Varanasi on Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing his wife and burying her body in the courtyard of his house in Bhitari village under Lohta police station in 2020. The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fourteenth) Atul Chaudhary sentenced Rajendra Prasad (56) to rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Additionally, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000 under Section 201 (concealing evidence) of the IPC.
Additional district government counsel (criminal) Rohit Maurya said that while pronouncing the sentence, the judge commented that punishment is extremely necessary considering the gravity of the crime. The case dates back to December 28, 2020, when the complainant, Ramvilas Harijan, and his younger brother Amar had gone to work, leaving their father Rajendra Prasad and mother Asha Devi at home. When Amar returned home in the afternoon and asked about his mother, Rajendra replied that she had gone to a goldsmith's shop. Ramvilas received the same answer when he returned in the evening.
The brothers became suspicious when they saw Rajendra leveling the soil with an axe in the courtyard. When questioned, he claimed he was leveling the floor. However, upon entering the house, they noticed blood splattered on the walls. They dug the spot in the courtyard and discovered Asha Devi's body, which had been anointed with salt to accelerate decomposition. When the brothers questioned Rajendra rigorously, he confessed to killing his wife over a property dispute.
Ramvilas lodged an FIR the same day, and police arrested the accused three days after the incident. The chargesheet was filed on January 24, 2021. A total of 10 witnesses were examined in the case. The court's decision underscores the severity of domestic violence and the importance of upholding justice in such heinous crimes.
