Youth gets life term for murdering aunt

Sessions court judge Nirmala Bhaid handed down the life term to Saket Phanse after finding him guilty under section 302 (murder) for stabbing Mangala Dharbe as many as 55 times in her neck, chest and abdomen that resulted in her death at her flat on August 25, 2010.

According to Navghar police, Saket had gone to Dharbe's flat at Mulund with an intention to commit robbery as his family in Pune was going through financial hardship and he needed money to look for an oversees job. Saket had failed in his exams and could not gather courage to tell his parents about it.

However, his plan to rob his aunt failed when the victim's domestic help arrived at the flat.

Police said Saket initially tried to misled the investigators claiming that two persons had barged into the apartment and killed his aunt. To support his claim he also allegedly inflicted injuries on his hand.

However, he spilled the beans during sustained interrogation and confessed to the crime.

According to police, Saket had left Pune on the fateful day on the pretext of attending college but in fact called up the victim saying he was coming to her over lunch.

After landing at her apartment, he attacked her in the kitchen, police said.

During his trial, Saket stuck to his claim that the murder was committed by two unidentified assailants.

The prosecution represented by Lata Chedda, however, picked holes in Saket's theory and demanded stringent punishment for him.