MAPUSA: The Additional District and Sessions Judge Vijaya Pol on Tuesday convicted one Santosh Khariya for causing death of his wife Anisha Barla in 2014.
Khariya was sentenced to five years in jail and slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 and in default to undergo one year rigorous imprisonment.
According to the prosecution, Khariya hit his wife with a wooden stick causing serious injuries on her head, at their residence at Shirgal, Dhargal on January 24, 2014 at around 1.15 pm.
The victim was later admitted to Goa Medical College Hospital at Bambolim where she died on January 31, 2014. After her death, Khariya voluntarily surrendered before the Pernem police.
Khariya’s lawyer Adv Rohan Desai pleaded for leniency arguing that Khariya is young and did not have the intension to kill his wife. However, Public Prosecutor Sunita Nagvekar pressed for severe punishment on grounds that Khariya knew well that hitting the victim with a wooden stick would cause injuries and that she would also die as a consequence of the same.
Agreeing with Adv Desai, the judged observed that since the victim did not die on the spot but seven days after the incident, Khariya had no intention to kill his wife. As such, she sentenced him to five years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 and in default to undergo one year rigorous imprisonment.
Khariya was initially booked for murder under Section 302 of IPC, however, he was later charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of IPC. PI Tushar Lotlikar investigated the case.
