MADURAI: The Madurai Mahila Court on Tuesday imposed life sentence on a man and his employee for murdering the former's wife by setting her ablaze in 2016. Additional District and Sessions Judge S Kirubaharan Mathuram passed the order against K Mohandoss (51) and K Shanmugam (46), who was employed as a driver in Mohandoss' travels company in Chennai.
According to the prosecution, Mohandoss doubted his wife Chitra's conduct and she was subjected to physical violence. She filed a divorce petition in the Madurai Family Court in 2014 and also got interim relief. Allegedly, Mohandoss repeatedly threatened Chitra to withdraw the petition but she refused.
On May 3, 2016, when Chitra alighted from her car at her house, Mohandoss, Shanmugam and his friend P Ganesan (who died pending trial) came on a two-wheeler and threw chilli powder on Chitra. They then poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze. SS Colony police had registered a case against the trio.
Sessions Judge Mathuram found the duo guilty and imposed life sentences on them. He also slapped a penalty of Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000 on Mohandoss and Shanmugam respectively.