HC acquits Suhaib Ilyasi in wife's murder case

Former television anchor and producer Suhaib Ilyasi who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife 18 years ago, was acquitted by Delhi High Court on Friday

A bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel acquitted him in the case, hearing his appeal against a trial court verdict which convicted him for murder.

The division bench of the High Court noted that there was no evidence on record to sustain Ilyasi's conviction in the case, accepting the argument of his lawyers that the trial court had reached the conclusion of the guilt of the accused based on conjectures and the conviction was not supported by the material on record.

A trial court in Delhi had on December 20, 2017 sentenced Ilyasi to life imprisonment, holding him guilty of his wife's murder.

Additional Sessions Judge S K Malhotra had also ordered him to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to Anju’s parents.

Ilyasi, who became popular with his crime show on television ‘India’s most wanted,’ was accused of stabbing his wife to death.

Anju, who was found with multiple stab injuries at her residence in east Delhi on January 11, 2000, was declared brought dead by the doctors after she was rushed to a hospital here. Police later on March 28 arrested Ilyasi in connection with the murder of Anju.

Anju’s mother Rukma Singh and sister Rashmi Singh had alleged that Ilyasi used to torture the victim for dowry

The trial court judge, while sentencing Ilyasi to life imprisonment last year, had noted that evidence suggested Ilyasi, at the prime of his career, was afraid that his wife would ruin him by exposing his alleged acts of fraud. Anju had decided to leave Ilyasi and settle down in Canada, the trial court had also noted.

Earlier this year, Ilyasi was granted interim bail for four weeks to take care of his second wife, who was unwell.