Agra: A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his wife, whom he suspected of having an affair. The court of additional district and sessions judge Harshvardhan also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.
Additional district govt counsel Narendra Singh said the case was registered at New Agra police station under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC on Aug 29, 2023, on a complaint filed by the woman’s father, Nahar Singh. Dr KB Singh, who conducted the autopsy on Aug 30, found multiple abrasions on the front of her neck and both knees. Relying on Section 106 of the Evidence Act and Supreme Court judgments, the court convicted Shishupal of murder. The court however sentenced him to life imprisonment under Section 302 of the IPC.
He told the court that “Deepmala had died of suffocation after her neck was pressed” and that the death had probably occurred around one-and-a-half days before the autopsy. The court said the prosecution had established the chain of circumstances beyond reasonable doubt. The next morning, the couple’s rented room was found locked from outside. Singh looked through a window and saw Deepmala lying on the floor. Police later broke open the lock and sent her body for postmortem. It noted that Shishupal was living with Deepmala in the rented room, had the opportunity to commit the crime, had switched off his phone, left after the killing and later gave a false explanation. The defence sought a lighter sentence, arguing that he had three children and no previous criminal record.
The prosecution said that on the night of Aug 28, 2023, the couple’s children were staying at Singh’s house. Around midnight, when one of the children fell ill, the family tried calling Shishupal, but his phone was switched off.