Wife who cared for paralysed husband strangles him with relative's help during Covid; both get life term
A Kasaragod court sentenced a woman and her relative to life imprisonment for strangling her paralysed husband in 2021, following years of abuse, caregiver strain, and frequent domestic quarrels.
A Kasaragod court sentenced a woman and her relative to life imprisonment for strangling her paralysed husband in 2021, following years of abuse, caregiver strain, and frequent domestic quarrels.
A Kasaragod court sentenced a woman and her relative to life imprisonment for strangling her paralysed husband in 2021, following years of abuse, caregiver strain, and frequent domestic quarrels.
Kasaragod: A woman who had cared for her paralysed elderly husband for years eventually turned against him and, with the help of her nephew and a distant relative, strangled him to death during the COVID pandemic. A court on Monday, November 9, sentenced Vembirichi Janaki (55) and her distant relative, Rajesh, to life imprisonment for the murder of Pathanath Kunhambu (67) at their home in Madiyaval in Kasaragod's Pilicode panchayat. Her nephew, Anil, ended his life during the trial.
Kunhambu had been paralysed from the waist down for years and depended on Janaki for his daily needs. She did odd jobs to support the family while looking after him. But the strain of caregiving, coupled with frequent quarrels between the couple, eventually took its toll, police said. Officers had said at the time that Kunhambu often verbally abused his wife, making her life miserable.
The murder took place on the night of July 21, 2021, when Kunhambu was lying on a cot in the hall of his house. According to the prosecution, Janaki took the help of her sister's son, Anil and another relative, Rajesh alias Unda Rajesh (40), to kill her husband. The three allegedly strangled Kunhambu.
The Kasaragod Additional District and Sessions Court-II, presided over by Judge Ramu Ramesh Chandrabanu, sentenced Janaki and Rajesh to life imprisonment and fined them ₹2 lakh each. They will have to undergo an additional four months' imprisonment if they fail to pay the fine. Rajesh was also awarded an additional 10-year prison term and fined ₹1 lakh under Section 449 of the IPC for house trespass.
The prosecution built its case largely on circumstantial evidence, as there was no direct evidence identifying the killers, said public prosecutor Adv G Chandramohan.
On the night of the incident, a neighbour, Shyamala, found Kunhambu dead inside the house. She alerted another neighbour, Pramod, and Kunhambu's son. She also noticed bloodstains on a wall. When the body was taken to the hospital, the doctor noticed an injury on the chin and recommended a postmortem examination. The doctor also alerted the police control room.
The postmortem examination established that Kunhambu had been strangled by hand, said Adv Chandramohan.
During the investigation, police found Kunhambu's blood on Rajesh's clothes. He could not explain why he was at Kunhambu's house and how the victim's blood had been found on his clothes.
On the day Kunhambu was killed, his relative, an autorickshaw driver who is also named Rajesh, had visited him. The driver told the police that he had seen Rajesh (the accused) and Anil at the house, but later turned hostile during the trial. "But the court took into consideration his statement that he saw the accused at Kunhambu's house," said the prosecutor.