THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kollam native, who was accused of throttling his 26-year-old female lover to death in a city lodge in 2022, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Additional Sessions Court.
The punishment was handed down to Praveen by Judge Siju Shaikh, who also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on the convict.
Praveen was accused of murdering Gayathri, a 26-year-old native of Veeranakavu near Kattakada, in a lodge near Thampanoor on March 5, 2022.
The two were employees at a city-based jewellery shop and were in a relationship. Gayathri entered into the relationship unaware that Praveen was already married and had two children.
Praveen initially wanted to keep their relationship clandestine. But under pressure from Gayathri, he revealed that he was married, and agreed to divorce his wife to marry Gayathri. Praveen secretly married Gayathri in a private ceremony at a church in Thiruvananthapuram in an attempt to placate her.
However, Praveen’s wife came to know about the incident and complained to the jewellery shop management. Following this, the management transferred Praveen to Tamil Nadu. Praveen later decided to end his relationship with Gayathri, but she was strongly opposed to it.
With no option to exit the relationship, Praveen decided to kill Gayathri. The two took a room in the lodge where he strangled her using her shawl.
Although there were no eyewitnesses to the incident, the court relied on circumstantial and scientific evidence to reach a conclusion. The conversations Praveen had with Gayathri and her relatives over the phone, the location of his mobile phone at the time of the incident, and the expert opinion of the forensic surgeon on the injury marks on the victim’s neck proved to be conclusive evidence against Praveen.