Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MS)

Kundapur, Mar 26: In the case, that occurred three years ago, at a private lodge here, in which Leelavati Devadiga (55), native of Gangolli, who was murdered and her gold ornaments looted, the accused Afzal alias Afzal Khan (42), a native of Mumbai, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday, March 26 by the additional district and sessions court here.

Justice Prakash Khanderi, who conducted the inquiry of this case sentenced the accused to life imprisonment under IPC section 302 for murder and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000. In addition, the judge sentenced the accused to three years of rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine under IPC section 404, for stealing the ornaments that the deceased wore at the time of the murder. The accused was further sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment and Rs 5,000 fine under IPC section 417, for enticing the woman to accompany him to the lodge. For spreading false rumours that the woman has committed suicide, the accused was slapped with one year of rigorous imprisonment and Rs 5,000 fine under IPC section 465. The convict was awarded a further imprisonment of five years and Rs 20000 fine under IPC section 468 for deceiving the victim.

It is also mentioned in the verdict that the children of the victim will be provided opportunities to get compensation and provision to apply for the same under law.

Prakashchandra Shetty, district public prosecutor, argued on behalf of the plaintiff.

Details of the murder

The convict Afzal Khan booked a room in the fictitious name Ajay Kumar at a lodge near Shastri Circle in Kundapur on April 15, 2015. Then the convict called the deceased Leelavati Devadiga (55) to the lodge on the pretext of giving a donation to Gangolli temple and offered her juice and water that was laced with intoxicating agents due to which the deceased lost her consciousness. The convict killed the lady by strangulating her with an electric wire.

The convict tried to shift the body of the victim out of the lodge by covering a cloth around her neck that was injured during strangulation. However, he failed in his act, changed the plan and got a duplicate death note written by someone else, threw the wire used for strangulation outside the window of the room of the lodge and took the ornaments and mobile of the deceased and escaped to Mumbai.

He was arrested in Mumbai after few days of the murder by a team of Kundapur police led by the then police inspector P M Divakar. Chargesheet was submitted in the case to Kundapur court by P M Divakar after conducting an inquiry. There were 45 circumstantial witnesses in the case, out of which 25 were interrogated. The bank officers of Mumbai, where the convict pledged the stolen golden ornaments, were called during the inquiry and were considered as witnesses in the case. The accused earlier lodged in Hiriyadka prison earlier was later shifted to Karwar prison.