BENGALURU: Four persons, including a senior citizen, have been sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2013 murder case. The victim was Nagesh, a driver, and the court convicted his wife, Lalitha (40), his mother-in-law, Jayamma (60), Lalitha’s paramour, Raja K, and Arun Kumar. The court imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 each on the two women convicts and Rs 85,000 each on the other two.
According to the prosecution, Lalitha was in an illicit relationship with Raja, who was Nagesh’s friend. After discovering their relationship, Nagesh allegedly assaulted his wife and warned Raja. Angered by this, Lalitha hatched a plan to kill Nagesh with the help of her mother, Jayamma, and Raja.
The trio hired Arun Kumar to carry out the murder. On December 9, 2013, Lalitha filed a missing persons complaint at the Aavalahalli police station. A few days later, police recovered Nagesh’s body from a pond in Mandur village. The post mortem report revealed that he had sustained injuries that resulted in his death.
After killing Nagesh, all four of them went to Dharmasthala to avoid suspicion. On returning home, they filed a missing persons complaint.
The then Aavalahalli Police Sub-Inspector Srinivasa M conducted the initial investigation, while the then Hoskote Circle Police Inspector Ramesh Kumar H B filed the chargesheet against the four accused before the court on February 21, 2014. Public Prosecutor Alamelu N B represented the prosecution before the court.
The Fast Track Special Court-1, presided over by Judge Saraswathi, found all four accused guilty of murdering Nagesh and held that their involvement had been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The court also directed that Rs 1 lakh from the fines collected from the accused be paid to the deceased’s children. It directed the District Legal Services Authority to provide appropriate compensation to them.
