Tripura court awards man life imprisonment for killing wife

Additional District and Sessions Judge Court of West Tripura District on January 21 has awarded a man to life imprisonment after he allegedly killed his wife with an axe on April 15, 2021.

In a press statement, public prosecutor Biswajit Deb said that Additional District and Sessions Judge (Court No - 2) Gobinda Das of West District delivered this judgment. 

“In this case, there were 26 total witnesses of the plaintiff, out of which the court accepted the testimony of 23 of the plaintiffs. Based on the testimony and circumstantial evidence of this murder, accused Ratan Debnath was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and a further 2 years imprisonment under Section 324 of the Indian Penal Code and fined Rs.10,000/- in default. The court also ordered another 06 months imprisonment”, the press statement reads.

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Describing the incident, the PP said on April 15 of 2021, at around 8:30 am, the accused Ratan Debnath, a resident of Tulakona village in West District, was cutting wood with an axe on one side of the yard, while his wife Pratima Debnath and her daughter-in-law went to bath in the neighbouring house. 

Ratan Debnath forbade him to go to the neighbouring house to take bath and when Pratima Debnath disobeyed the prohibition. 

After bathing, the daughter-in-law went to another room to perform puja while the deceased Pratima Debnath went to the kitchen.

At that time, the accused Ratan Debnath went to the kitchen and assaulted Pratima with his axe. 
Hearing the screaming of Pratima, other family members rushed to the spot and found her lying in a pool of blood.

She was immediately rushed to the hospital where on-duty doctors declared Pratima brought dead.
Meanwhile, accused Ratan Debnath tried to clean the axe but at that time his younger brother and others snatched the axe from him. 

It is revealed that the said Ratan Debnath often viewed his wife suspiciously and suspected her of having an illicit relationship.

The investigating officer of this case was the Sub-inspector of Tripura police Mithun Saha. 
Investigating Officer Mithun Saha took all the evidence and filed a charge sheet before the Court under Sections 302 and 325 of the Indian Penal Code. 

But the Court framed the charge under Sections 302 and 324 of the Indian Penal Code.