New Delhi: Stressing that Mahatma Gandhi is above power and politics, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi Saturday said people like Pragya Singh Thakur are killing the soul of India and the BJP should expel her from the party.

His comments came after Malegaon blast accused and BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate Thakur lauded Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "patriot" in an election rally in Madhya Pradesh.

She later apologised for her statement, saying she respected Gandhi and his work for the country cannot be forgotten.

"Godse had killed Gandhi's body, but people like Pragya are killing the soul, non-violence, peace, tolerance and the soul of India. Gandhi is above all power and politics.

"The BJP leadership should forego its interest of any small benefit and immediately take her out of the party in compliance with the Raj dharma," Satyarthi, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner, tweeted.

Thakur on Thursday had said, "Godse was a patriot, is a patriot, and will remain a patriot. Those who call him a terrorist should look within they will get a reply in this election."

She made the remarks reacting to actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's comments calling Godse as the first Hindu terrorist. Thakur, who is facing trial in the Malegaon blast case that killed six people, has apologised for the statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said he will never forgive Thakur for calling Godse a true patriot.

In April, the BJP candidate had claimed that police officer Hemant Karkare had died in the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai as she "had cursed him" due to "years of mental and physical torture" he gave her.

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Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.

Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.

According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.

Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.

As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.

"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.

The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.

After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.

He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.

However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.

During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.

The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.