Suhaib Ilyasi, host of 'India's Most Wanted', convicted for wife's murder

Suhaib Illyasi was convicted by the Karkardooma court here in connection with the death of his wife, Anju Ilyasi way back in the year 2000.

File photo

New Delhi: Suhaib Ilyasi, the former television presenter and producer of once popular criminal hunt show 'India's Most Wanted', was on Saturday convicted by a court in Delhi in connection with his wife's death.

According to ANI, Illyasi was convicted by the Karkardooma court here in connection with the death of his wife, Anju Ilyasi, way back in the year 2000.

The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge S K Malhotra.

Suhaib was found guilty on the charge of murder under the Indian Penal Code. He faces a minimum punishment of life imprisonment and the maximum of death penalty in the case.

Advocate Manu Sharma, who represented Suhaib during the protracted trial, said that the court would hear the arguments on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to the convict on December 20.

Lawyer Satender Sharma, who appeared on behalf of key witness and mother of Anju, Rukma Singh, said the Delhi High Court had in August 2014 ruled that Suhaib would face the charge of murder for the death of his wife.

Suhaib Ilyasi has been under scanner over his suspicious role in the alleged murder of his wife, nearly seventeen years ago.

The Delhi High Court had earlier ordered framing of murder charges against Ilyasi in connection with his wife's death.

While deciding two separate pleas of Ilyasi and his mother-in-law, Rukma Singh, Justice Indermeet Kaur said, "The prima facie material collected by the prosecution justifies the framing of additional charge under Section 302 (murder) of IPC. The revision petition is disposed of with a direction to the trial court to frame an additional charge under Section 302 of IPC".

Ilyasi's mother-in-law Rukma Singh had sought inclusion of the additional charge of murder against him for her daughter's death on January 11, 2000. 

Section 302 of Indian Penal Code entails death penalty as the maximum punishment.

Ilyasi was earlier charged under milder sections 304B (dowry death) of IPC and had moved the court against a decision of the police to form a fresh medical panel to ascertain the nature of his wife's death.

Ilyasi had alleged that the formation of the medical board was illegal as it was being done after filing of a chargesheet and framing of charges for the offence of dowry death.

On January 11, 2000, Anju was rushed from Suhaib's east Delhi house to a hospital with fatal stab wounds.

Ilyasi, who had shot into limelight after hosting a TV crime show 'India's Most Wanted', was arrested on March 28, 2000.

Later, charges were framed against him in the case after his sister-in-law and mother-in-law alleged that he used to torture Anju for dowry.