Indian man gets life sentence for wife's gruesome murder
Houston (PTI): An Indian man was sentenced to life imprisonment in the US state of Florida for the gruesome murder of his wife in 2020 in the parking lot of a hospital where she was working as a nurse, according to a media report.
Philip Mathew on Friday pleaded no contest to the first-degree murder of Merin Joy, his wife who was planning an escape from an abusive relationship, The Sun Sentinel newspaper reported.
The plea deal spared him from the possibility of a death sentence, the report said.
In 2020, Joy, 26, then a nurse at Broward Health Coral Springs, was stabbed 17 times. Police said Mathew blocked her car in with his, slashed her repeatedly, and then drove over her body on the ground before driving off, police said.
One of her co-workers would later say Mathew drove over her "like she was a speed bump," and as employees rushed to her aid, Joy could only cry to them over and over: "I have a baby."
Before she died, police said, she revealed her attacker's identity.
On Friday, Mathew also pleaded no contest to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was immediately sentenced to life in state prison with no possibility of release, plus a maximum of five years for the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The decision was made to waive the death penalty because of the certainty of the life sentence and because the defendant was giving up his right to appeal, said Paula McMahon, spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office.
Joy's family remains devastated by their profound loss.
Joby Philip, a cousin on Joy's side of the family, watched Friday's hearing on Zoom from where he lives in Tampa, then translated the outcome to her family.
Joy's mother is "glad to know her daughter's killer would remain the rest of his years in jail and she's relieved to know the legal process is over," he said Friday.
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UP: Man dies of heat condition in ambulance; family alleges King George hospital denied ventilator
Lucknow (PTI): A 60-year-old man allegedly died on the way to a hospital in an ambulance after he could not get a ventilator at the King George Medical University where he was undergoing treatment for a heart condition.
The KGMU administration, however, claimed it tried to save the man and referred him to another facility in the absence of a ventilator.
Wazirganj Police Station SHO Dinesh Chandra Mishra said a complaint has been filed by the man's family but an FIR was yet to be lodged.
According to his family, Abrar Ahmed, a resident of an area under Dubagga Police Station, underwent angioplasty in 2018 at KGMU's Cardiology Department (Lari Cardiology).
He was admitted to KGMU's emergency centre after his condition deteriorated Sunday night.
Seeing his condition, doctors said he needed a ventilator immediately but since there was no spare unit, they referred him to another hospital.
Ahmed's son Saif alleged that doctors did not pay heed to his father's repeated requests for a ventilator.
"My father was given four injections after which he started to bleed from nose and mouth. Despite his pleadings, doctors treated him badly. He was referred to the Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences and he died on the way," Saif told reporters.
KGMU spokesperson Sudhir Singh said Ahmed was diagnosed with a coronary artery disease in 2018, but he skipped checkups.
"The patient underwent angioplasty. After angioplasty, the doctor called him for checkup from time to time, but the patient did not come to the OPD for follow-up after that," the hospital said in a statement.
"When his health deteriorated, the patient was brought to the emergency room in a serious condition of heart failure. Where the doctors immediately admitted him and put him on oxygen support and necessary tests were done," it said.
The patient had difficulty breathing, but "unfortunately, all the ICU-ventilator beds of Lari Cardiology were full."
"He was put on oxygen support and was immediately advised to be taken to Sanjay Gandhi PGI and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences. A reference letter was also given. An ambulance was also provided from KGMU to take the patient to another institution. Unfortunately, despite all efforts, the patient could not be saved," the statement said.
