New Delhi: A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for poisoning his wife to death with the court convicting him on the basis of depositions of his three minor children.
District Judge P S Teji sentenced 38-year-old city resident Vikas Gupta for murdering his wife by administering a pesticide in a glass of water that he gave her to drink.
"It has already been established that it was the accused (Gupta) who gave cockroach killing pesticide to the deceased after mixing it in water. So, the medical evidence as well as FSL report also establishes the case of prosecution that the accused committed the murder of his own wife by administering poison to her," the court said.
Gupta murdered his wife and then took his wife to hospital along with other family members, said the court adding that the case, however, does not fall into the category of rarest of rare crime warranting death penalty. "Convict Vikas Gupta is hereby awarded sentence of life imprisonment and fine of Rs 10,000 for the offence under section 302 IPC," it said, noting that he has three children and old parents to support.
The prosecution case dated back to September 2009 when Mandawali resident Gupta gave pesticides to his wife Bharti to get rid of the frequent fights between them.
The prosecution said Gupta used to abuse and beat his wife and on the fateful day, a fed up victim said it would be better to die instead of living such a life.
At this, Gupta gave her a glass of water mixed with the pesticide, which she drank and died. The court, while convicting Gupta, also relied on the statements of the couple`s three children who testified that their father, who was an alcoholic, had killed their mother in front of them.
In his testimony, the couple`s son said when his mother started vomiting with froth coming out of her mouth, his father kept her watching, refusing to anything to save her.
He said her mother`s condition deteriorated soon after she consumed the water which his father had given to her.
The court also rejected Gupta`s plea of alibi that he was not present at home when his wife consumed poison.
"The eye witnesses (children) have categorically deposed against the accused that he administered intoxicant to the deceased after mixing it in water. So, the plea of alibi taken by the accused appears to be false," the district judge said.

PTI