The III Additional District and Sessions Court on Saturday sentenced a 35-year-old man from Koppal district to life on finding him guilty of murdering his wife three years ago.
The case of the prosecution was that Fakirayya alias Prakash, a graduate, moved from his native to Mangaluru, along with his wife Manjula, in search for work.
The couple were staying in a house in Kavoor that was close to the house of Manjula’s aunt Neelamma. Apart from working as a construction labourer, Fakirayya took tuitions for Neelamma’s two children.
On July 30, 2014, Fakirayya took tuitions till around 9 p.m. and then had a heated exchange of words with his wife. After his wife went to sleep, Fakirayya wrote a long letter addressed to his wife stating his unhappiness over her reported extra marital relationship.
In the early hours of July 31, Fakirayya attempted to stab her with a knife. When she resisted, Fakirayya used a pillow to smother her to death. He left the house in the morning, locking the house from outside.
Neelamma broke open the lock with the help of neighbours and found Manjula dead in the hall. Following her complaint, the Kavoor police traced Fakirayya to his native place where he was arrested on August 1.
The police recovered the knife and the letter from the murder spot.
During the trial, Prosecutor Narayan Sherigar examined, among others, the two children of Neelamma who had attended tuition on July 30.
Handwriting expert Jeenath told the court about the authenticity of the letter, while another expert Geetalakshmi told about bloodstains of Manjula on the knife used by Fakirayya. Some neighbours of Fakirayya were also examined.
Judge Muralidhara Pai sentenced Fakirayya to life and also imposed fine of ₹10,000.
The Judge directed the District Legal Services Authority to initiate proceedings for payment of compensation to Fakirayya’s two children under the Karnataka Victim Compensation Scheme.
Fakirayya’s children were in their grandparent’s house at the time of incident.