BENGALURU: A couple who murdered a woman after learning from her daughter’s wedding video that she owned a lot of gold jewellery were sentenced to life imprisonment until death, while another person received five years in prison.
Moktiyar Ahmed (36) (A1), his wife Sultana Khanum (45) (A2) and Syed Salim (32) (A3), all residents of Kengeri, are the convicts.
“Moktiyar and Sultana are sentenced to imprisonment for life,” said Judge Shirin Javeed Ansari, LXIX Additional City Civil and Sessions Court. The court also imposed a Rs 80,000 fine each on the two accused, besides directing them to jointly pay compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the dependents of the deceased. It also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the third accused and Rs 50,000 compensation to be paid by him.
“Given the brutality, premeditation, motive and subsequent conduct, this court finds that the offences fall within the category of rarest of rare cases, stopping short of the death penalty,” the court observed.
The deceased Neelufar was residing with her children in Bapuji Colony in Kengeri.
Sultana used to live in the same area and had developed an acquaintance with the deceased. She and the deceased used to watch the marriage video of the deceased’s daughter.
Sultana asked the deceased to hand over the ornaments under the pretext of wearing them for a relative’s wedding, assuring their return thereafter. The deceased, however, refused, which led to a heated altercation. On January 4, 2016, the couple observed that the deceased was alone when they called her to their residence, and once she entered, Sultana engaged her in a conversation while her husband gagged her using a veil to prevent her from screaming.
Sultana overpowered her by holding her and pressing her hands and legs while Moktiyar tightened an electric wire around her neck. The accused also hit her head with a wooden pestle. Later, they stole the money and ornaments kept in her residence. They wrapped the body in the saree she wore and dumped it in a lake, along with Salim.