Delhi court sends woman, her brother-in-law to jail for life for murdering husband

I am of the considered opinion that the deceased Dilip Sharma was found dead within the secured precincts of his house raises an irresistible inference that the deceased was murdered by the accused persons in a pre-planned conspiracy, the judge had said in his order.

A Delhi court has sent a woman and her brother-in-law to prison for life for murdering her husband in a pre-planned conspiracy. Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav sentenced Shanti Sharma and her brother-in-law Satender Sharma to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on each for murdering Dilip Sharma by administering poison to him.

The court had held guilty Shanti and Satender for the offences under sections 302 (murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. It said, in its order passed on December 10, that interest of justice would be met if the convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence of murder, five years rigorous imprisonment for the offences of criminal conspiracy and five years rigorous imprisonment for the offence of disappearance of evidence. The court said the sentences would run concurrently.

While convicting the duo, the court had said illicit relationship is the ''biggest weapon'' of cheating that destroys a whole family. ''illicit relationship is the biggest weapon of cheating that destroys the whole family. Illicit relationship is a perfect mix for disaster. Most times, it turns the family system into hell. The case in hand is a perfect example of this. ''I am of the considered opinion that the deceased (Dilip Sharma) was found dead within the secured precincts of his house raises an irresistible inference that the deceased was murdered by the accused persons in a pre-planned conspiracy,'' the judge had said in his order. The court had further said from the testimony of the deceased's sister-in-law it was quite clear that there existed ''illicit relations'' between both the accused persons. ''It is clearly evident from the record that just prior to his unnatural, untimely and unexpected death, the deceased had been residing within the secured boundary walls of his house (at the ground floor) alongwith his wife (accused Shanti Sharma) and their three children. ''...it is quite clear that accused Satender Sharma had been carrying out his business of manufacturing ''plastic dibbi'' from the first floor residence of the deceased,'' the court had said. During the trial, Shanti and Satender claimed they had been falsely implicated in the case and were innocent. They had claimed that Dilip had died by slipping and falling on the staircase of the house. As per the prosecution, in 2015, Dilip was found dead in his north-east Delhi''s Brahampuri house, lying near the staircase and the police had noticed injury marks and blood stains on his face and neck. The case was filed on the complaint of Dilip's brother and both the accused were arrested during the investigation.