Noida: An additional sessions court on Tuesday sentenced Bulandshahr resident Abdul Khalid to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000, declaring him guilty of murdering his wife in 2022.While hearing the matter on the point of sentence, judge Somprabha Mishra said, “Considering the entire facts and circumstances of the case, and the age and family responsibilities of the convicted accused, a life term with fine would satisfy the broad principles of punishment,” adding that the term already spent in custody be adjusted against the sentence.An FIR in the matter was filed by Khalid’s sister-in-law Asha Devi on Feb 2, 2022. In her complaint, she wrote that Khalid had been married to her sister Ashmin since 2012 and they used to fight regularly. A case of harassment against Khalid was already pending in a local court. She said Ashmin had told her about a fight she had with Khalid on Jan 30. When she called her the next day, her phone was switched off. Expecting something untoward, she went to Khalid and Ashmin’s apartment in Sector 73A on Feb 1 and found it locked from outside. When she opened the door and went inside, she found Ashmin’s body wrapped in a quilt. She had a deep wound on her head.During trial, the court said that according to medical evidence, the woman died approximately one and a half to two days before the post-mortem examination. “The medical evidence also establishes that the deceased was killed by a pre-mortem blow to her head. The investigating officer recovered the murder weapon, a concrete brick, at the accused’s indication. The forensic laboratory report revealed the presence of human blood on the recovered weapon,” the court noted.The evidence analysis revealed that the accused had absconded on Jan 31, 2022. No explanation for this has been offered by the accused. The accused’s bail application also shows the accused as a resident of the same flat where the deceased lived. The deceased lived with the accused in the flat at the scene of the incident. Therefore, it was within the accused’s personal knowledge as to where he was at the time of the incident and the circumstances under which the deceased was murdered. The accused has not, through his statement, proven his whereabouts at the time of the incident or the circumstances under which the deceased died. Therefore, the finger of guilt for the murder of the deceased points to the accused, the court concluded.
