Court sentences accused to 7 years RI for murdering his wife

Mangaluru: A man was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment by a court here for the murder of his wife over a petty issue.

The First Additional District and Sessions Court in Mangaluru convicted Johnson K M (41) a resident of Neriyakadu Kottakkara of Neriya village near Dharmasthala for the crime.

The incident happened on the night of January 7, 2021. Johnson and his wife Sowmya Francis (36) had a fight over a trivial issue. During the argument, he hit her with a rod for raising her voice.  Sowmya was rushed to a hospital and later died of severe injuries.

Based on the complaint by the brother of the deceased, Belthangady police had arrested Johnson and submitted a chargesheet against him in court. The post-mortem report revealed that the victim bore injury marks on her body and was previously subjected to physical abuse.

Based on the autopsy report and the other evidence, the court concluded that the accused had committed culpable homicide not amounting to murder under IPC section 304 (2).

Delivering the verdict, Judge H S Mallikarjuna Swamy, sentenced the convict to 3 years of rigorous imprisonment under IPC Section 498 along with a fine of Rs 10,000 failing which an additional jail term of six months. The convict was also ordered to undergo a seven-year prison term under IPC Section 304 (2) and pay a fine of Rs 10,000 failing which to serve an additional one-year simple imprisonment.

Public prosecutor Judith O M Crasta argued on behalf of the State.