Bizman gets life sentence for double murder

Opposing his son's love marriage, he had killed his daughter-in-law, grandchild

A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his daughter-in-law and her three month-old baby girl in Varthur in August 2011, just because his son had married outside the caste.

The 3rd fast-track court here found Nagaraj, a cloth merchant from Tamil Nadu, guilty of the shocking crime. He had strongly opposed his son Karthik’s marriage to Vijaylakshmi as she was from a different caste. They were both working at a software company in Tamil Nadu and had married against Nagaraj’s wish. Thereafter, they moved to Bengaluru to work for a private company, according to the police.

Nagaraj seethed in anger about this. He vowed revenge when Vijaylakshmi even refused to lend him money. On August 2, 2011, he went to his son’s home in Varthur and found only Vijaylakshmi and her daughter Neena there. He picked a fight with Vijaylakshmi and banged a laptop on her head.

Vijaylakshmi began to bleed and collapsed. He then dragged her into the bathroom where he poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze. He also threw the baby into the fire. Later, he ransacked the house and made away with Rs four lakh worth of gold jewellery, the police said.

Stunned by the incident, Karthik lodged a complaint at the Varthur police station. The police initially believed it to be a fire accident but began to suspect Nagaraj’s involvement later. They then arrested him in Mumbai where he had gone into hiding.
The court believed the evidence presented by the prosecution and convicted Nagaraj. It also sentenced him to five years of imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000 for the robbery.