Four years after husband’s murder, Agra woman, relative sentenced to life imprisonment

The two, who have been in jail since their arrest, were brought to court from Agra jail for the pronouncement of the sentence on Friday. “The court has awarded life imprisonment to Poonam and Soni in the case. The court also imposed a fine on them,” said the government counsel.

According to the prosecution, the case dates back to January 2021, when police received information about a dead body found at a house in the jurisdiction of the Dauki police station. The police recovered the body, which was identified as that of Rakesh.

Rakesh’s father, Ram Prasad, filed a police complaint saying that his son Rakesh was married to Poonam for eight years. Before their marriage, he alleged, Poonam was in an illicit relationship with Soni, an Agra resident.

Prasad said in his complaint that Soni used to visit Rakesh’s house frequently, and over time, Rakesh became suspicious and eventually learnt of the alleged affair between the two. Following this, Prasad alleged he had barred Soni from entering the house.

However, on January 24, 2021, around 10 pm, Soni allegedly came to meet Poonam at her residence. When Rakesh returned home around 10.30 pm and found Soni there, he allegedly questioned Poonam. This led to an altercation, during which Poonam and Soni allegedly strangled Rakesh to death using a scarf.

Rakesh’s father claimed he saw Poonam and Soni fleeing the scene after the murder. He said he tried to chase them but failed to catch them.

The postmortem report confirmed that Rakesh died due to asphyxia resulting from strangulation. The injuries on his body were found to be ante-mortem.