Man sentenced to life term for setting wife ablaze

The court sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing his wife by setting her on fire. The 64th City Civil and Sessions Court convicted M Krishna (35) on Tuesday.

Judge S M Channappa passed the order after finding Krishna guilty of murdering his wife Padma on December 18, 2011.

In his judgment, Judge Channappa said, "The prosecution has proven beyond doubt that Krishna doused his wife with kerosene, before torching her."

Public prosecutor Sharanagowda V Patil who argued the case, said the couple had got married despite opposition from their families. They had a good relationship initially but later, Krishna turned alcoholic and used to quarrel with his wife everyday.

Picked a quarrel

"Meanwhile, Padma became pregnant. Krishna's family members came to see her on December 14, 2011 but since the house was not big enough for them to stay over, they left in the evening. Krishna came home drunk and when he learnt that his mother and sisters visited them and left without staying over, he picked a quarrel with his wife alleging that she told them to leave. During a heated argument, he poured kerosene from the stove on Padma and set her ablaze. She covered herself with a bed sheet and fled to her sister's house in an autorickshaw. She was later admitted to a hospital but died three days later,'' the public prosecutor said.

Padma's family members had filed a complaint against Krishna.

The police took Padma's statement when she was in the hospital and filed the charge sheet against Krishna.