Man gets rigorous jail for life for murdering wife

Darjeeling: The District and Sessions Court, Darjeeling, sentenced a 51-year-old man to rigorous imprisonment for life for having murdered his wife, who was 45-years-old at the time of death. The sentence was passed on Monday.

“Judge Jihut Bahan Biswas sentenced one Chandraprakash Rai of Thapadhura, Mim tea estate under the Jorebunglow Police Station, Darjeeling, with rigorous imprisonment for life for murdering his wife Nita Chhetri. He was charged under Section 302 IPC for murder. 18 witnesses were examined in the case,” stated Pranay Rai, Public Prosecutor, Darjeeling. Narrating the incident, Rai stated that on April 8, 2023, he went around his village claiming that his wife had committed suicide.

Villagers rushed to his house and found his wife hanging from the ceiling. They then advised him to lay the body down. He then cut the rope with a sickle and later burnt the rope. The victim’s family was informed.

The father and sister of the victim on seeing the body suspected foul play as the face of the deceased bore bruise marks, Rai tried to cover it up stating that she was suffering from high blood pressure and would regularly get rashes.

However, the villagers and Rai’s elder brother too suspected that something was wrong. Eventually the father of the victim lodged a complaint at the Jorebunglow Police Station. “Accordingly, a post mortem was conducted and 14 injuries were found on the body. Interestingly, the ligature knot mark was missing (which is usually seen in case of death by hanging). The post mortem report also stated that the 14 injuries, including fractures, were homicidal in nature. Based on this, Rai was immediately arrested.

The murder weapon, a baton, was also recovered,” added the PP. The couple had been married for 26 years but Rai used to beat his wife regularly. As she did not protest or lodge a police complaint, the beatings got severe with time.