CHENNAI: Tiruvallur Additional District and Sessions Court has sentenced a woman, along with her mother, to life imprisonment for burning the woman’s father-in-law to death over a property dispute in 2019.
The victim, Sabapathi, a farmer from Nemili village near Tiruvallur, had allegedly not divided his property among his children, leading to frequent quarrels with his daughter-in-law, Gayathri.
According to the prosecution, Gayathri and her mother, Kalaivani, conspired to eliminate him.
One day in 2019, they entered the house while Sabapathi was asleep and tried to smother him using a pillow. When he resisted, they poured kerosene on him and set him ablaze.
He later succumbed to the burns.
Based on a complaint, the Kanakammachatram police had registered a murder case and arrested the duo.
After trial, the court held them guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of them. In default of payment, they will have to undergo one year of rigorous imprisonment.
The two convicts were later lodged in Puzhal central prison.