A Pune court on Tuesday sentenced a 73-year-old watchman to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of his wife in 2015, a case that shocked the city after he was seen walking on a busy road carrying her severed head. Additional Sessions Judge Sumit G Joshi convicted Ramchandra Shehu Chavan for murder and wrongful confinement, holding that the prosecution proved the charge beyond reasonable doubt through consistent eyewitness accounts and forensic evidence.
The Crime and Conviction
The court sentenced Chavan to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000. The sensational murder occurred on October 9, 2015, when Chavan, then 63, severed his wife's head with an axe outside their home in the Katraj area following a quarrel around 10:30 am. He then walked with the axe and his wife's severed head for about 500 meters on a busy road.
Public prosecutor Prem Kumar Agarwal stated that Chavan suspected his wife's character, believing she had an extra-marital relationship with her son-in-law. Evidence showed that Chavan attacked her with an axe and later dismembered the body.
Eyewitnesses and Arrest
A resident alerted the police control room after seeing Chavan strolling with his wife's head. A motorcyclist also called traffic police personnel on duty in the area. A police patrol team from the Bharati Vidyapeeth police station and traffic police personnel arrived at the scene. On seeing them, Chavan threw the axe and the head, which he had planned to dump in the Katraj lake, and surrendered.
The police found Chavan's daughter-in-law and her two minor children locked inside the house. The mutilated body of the victim with multiple injuries was also lying there. Medical evidence confirmed the death was homicidal, with the postmortem recording 26 ante-mortem injuries, including chop wounds and amputations.
Evidence and Court Ruling
The court relied on testimonies from several eyewitnesses, including neighbors who saw Chavan assaulting the victim and dismembering her body. The victim's daughter-in-law testified that she saw the accused attack the victim and was locked inside the house when she tried to intervene. The court also considered Chavan's conduct after the murder, noting he was seen walking on the road with the weapon and severed head, which corroborated the prosecution's case. CCTV footage, video recordings, and seizure of blood-stained clothes further supported the case.
