Maha: Man gets life imprisonment in murder case

The district court here in Maharashtra has convicted a 37-year-old tribal from Palghar district for murdering a widow in 2018 after she resisted his sexual advances and handed him life imprisonment. Additional sessions court judge and special judge (SC and ST Act) GP Shirsat also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on the convict, Sanjay Kharpade, after convicting him under section 302 (Punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Friday.

Additional Public Prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale said Kharpade, a resident of Jambha Kokerpada hamlet in Vikramgad tehsil, used to seek sexual favours from the 65-year-old victim by threatening her children. He had tried to rape her under influence of alcohol. On April 29, 2018 Kharpade fatally attacked the woman at her house with a sharp weapon. Kharpade and the victim were residents of the same area, the prosecution said. The court rejected the defence’s argument that the victim was attacked by a wild animal even though it underlined certain contradictions and omissions in the complaint lodged by the daughter of the deceased.