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Techie held guilty of killing wife who 'harassed' his parents
DHNS
Last Updated IST
Satish and Priyanka in happier times.
Satish and Priyanka in happier times.

The City Civil and Sessions court on Friday convicted a city-based software engineer who had killed his newly married wife and had tried to pass it off as a murder for gain seven years ago.

The convict, Satish Kumar Gupta, worked for a leading IT company and confessed to the police that he killed his wife since she did not like his parents and did not allow them to visit home.

Investigating officer L R Balaramegowda, who was Hulimavu inspector, said Gupta being the only son of his parents, was very fond of them and wore a locket with their picture on it, which his wife Priyanka disliked. Gupta tried to reason with Priyanka, but she started harassing his parents whenever they visited them, the police said.

Enraged by this ill-treatment, Gupta decided to eliminate Priyanka who was a teacher at a reputable school.

On July 10, 2010, Gupta brought Priyanka to the hall blind-folded on the pretext of surprising her and presented a photo album of their marriage.

Gupta promised her a bigger surprise next month. Priyanka was thrilled and was expecting a diamond necklace.

But Gupta had different plans. He went to the market and bought a nylon rope and a knife and a pair of sports shoes that were not his size. He had even withdrawn Rs 2 lakh cash from the bank, but kept it at his parents’ house.

Wearing the new shoes, Gupta at around 5 am on August 10, 2010 returned from office, woke up his wife and brought her to the hall. He made her sit on a chair and blindfolded her and tied her hands behind, saying it was his second surprise. Gupta then pulled out the nylon rope and strangled her till she became motionless. He slit her throat with the new knife to make sure she was dead. He left cigarette butts at the crime scene after smoking and even walked around to make sure his shoe marks were visible and then left the place.

Gupta returned after two hours and enacted a drama to make it look like someone had killed his wife and robbed the cash. The Hulimavu police noticed the scene of crime and concluded that the accused had only taken away cash and did not touch the gold ornaments Priyanka was wearing. With this lead, the police began investigations and watched Gupta’s movements closely before zeroing in on his parents from whom Rs 2 lakh cash was recovered. The police then picked up Gupta, who after detailed questioning, confessed to the crime.

Based on the charge sheet, the court convicted Gupta of murder and destroying evidence and reserved the quantum of sentence for a later date.

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(Published 29 July 2017, 01:23 IST)