Ludhiana: A local court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment and imposed a ₹50,000 fine for the murder of his 20-year-old wife in January 2023.The court of additional sessions judge Barinder Singh Ramana convicted Budh Lal, a native of Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, currently residing in Aman Park, Ludhiana, under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).According to the prosecution, the victim, Rani, had moved back to her parental home three months prior to the incident due to marital harassment and was working at a supermarket chain on Ferozepur Road.Her mother, Banita, reported that Budh Lal had been issuing threats over phone calls to kill Rani if she was not sent back to UP, subsequently arriving in Ludhiana 15 days before the crime to stay with his brother.On the evening of January 7, 2023, when Rani failed to return home after her shift, Banita went searching for her and witnessed Budh Lal scuffling with Rani near bushes close to their house around 8 pm.Banita testified that the accused struck Rani repeatedly on the head with a brick before fleeing the scene, leaving her fatally injured; Rani was declared brought dead upon arrival at the hospital.Following an investigation by the Sarabha Nagar police station, an FIR was registered on January 8, 2023, leading to Budh Lal’s arrest, chargesheeting, and trial, during which he claimed false implication.Rejecting his defence, the court noted, “No doubt the circumstantial evidence and the extra judicial confession requires corroboration but in the present case the identity of the accused is not in dispute. Even if the complainant could not get her daughter separated from the clutches of the accused, it can be said that there is every possibility that the complainant must have suffered shock at the time when she saw accused hitting her daughter with brick on her head.”In its order, the court held, “The prosecution has proved its case beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt. The prosecution has been able to establish on file that accused Budhi Lal had committed the murder of his wife Rani. The relation of accused Budhi Lal with deceased Rani was not cordial. Deceased Rani left her matrimonial home. The accused had come all the way from Unao to Ludhiana. The accused was seen by complainant prosecution witness Banita while hitting Rani with brick.”
