A 27-year-old man was on Saturday sentenced by a sessions court to life imprisonment for stabbing a married woman he was in an illicit relation with as well as making an attempt on the life of her husband.
The woman Vandana Wankede’s husband Sathosh Wankhede and her daughter, who was an eye-witnesses to the incident, deposed during the trial. As per the prosecution’s case, the incident took place a few days after Wankhede and the man Raju Pal had a quarrel after the former learnt about Pal’s affair with his wife. He had asked Pal, who was his co-worker at a fruit stall, not to visit him home. On January 24, 2016, after midnight, when the Wankhede couple and their nine-year-old daughter were having dinner, someone knocked on the door. Wankhede opened it to find Pal standing with a knife. He asked Pal why he was there and Pal stabbed him in the abdomen and tried to flee. At the time, Vandana tried to stop Pal. Pal took a kitchen knife and stabbed her in the chest. He then fled and was caught by policemen. Vandana succumbed to the injury.
The court said about the injury to Vandana, that the assault was to a vital part of the body and that it appears he visited the residence of Wankhede with pre-meditation. It stated too that he visited the home with a knife, thus that his motive is clear. While deciding the quantum of sentence, the court said the victim of the offence cannot be forgotten and that the deceased had a minor daughter of nine-years at the time. The child is compelled to stay at her native due to the death of her mother, it stated, adding that great loss is caused to both her and her father.
