Man gets life term for strangulating wife

A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for strangulating to death his 25-year-old wife by a Delhi court, which said the murder was "preplanned".
Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra awarded the rigorous jail term to 35-year-old Tulsi Ram, a resident of Delhi, observing that there were no cordial relations between the convict and his wife Shabana.
"Thus, it is proved that only the accused (Ram) had committed the murder of his wife by strangulating her with 'chunni'," the court said, adding the offence was pre-planned by him.
The court, however, refused to award him death penalty saying no material has been placed on record by prosecution to show that the convict cannot be reformed or was a menace to society.

"... It is evident that the overall conduct of convict Ram was satisfactory in jail and there were no complaints against him. Moreover, he is having two school going children and there is nobody to look after them except mother of the deceased," it said and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, Ram used to consume alcohol and beat his wife regularly and also threaten her to leave her mother failing which he would throw acid on her.

On the day of incident, the couple's two children had gone to school and the woman's mother and sister also went for their work. However, Ram did not allow his wife to go to work that day and asked her to remain at home.

In the afternoon, he strangulated her and fled the spot after locking the house, police said.
When the woman's sister came home, on finding the house locked, she broke open the lock and saw the victim lying on her bed.
The woman was rushed to a hospital in Moti Nagar in west Delhi where she was declared brought dead by doctors on August 13, 2013.
During the trial, Ram claimed that he was innocent and was falsely implicated in the case.