Uthra murder case: Kerala court awards life sentence to husband for killing wife using cobra
Kollam (Ker)(PTI): A sessions court in Kerala on Wednesday awarded life sentence in the Uthra murder case to the victim's husband for killing his wife using a cobra.
On October 11, the court had held the husband -- Sooraj S Kumar -- guilty of murder, poisoning, destruction of evidence and also attempt to murder for his first try at killing his then 25-year old wife -- Uthra -- by using a viper.
Additional Sessions Judge-VI Manoj M, who pronounced the sentence, said the case was a rarest of the rare, but looking at the age of the convict -- 28 years now -- it decided to award him life sentence instead of death, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) G Mohanraj told reporters outside the court.
Besides life for murder, Kumar was also awarded life sentence for the offence of attempt to murder, 10 years for poisoning and seven years for destruction of evidence, the SPP said.
He also said that the court has specifically directed that the convict will first serve the sentences awarded for poisoning and destruction of evidence -- total 17 years -- and thereafter, his life imprisonment will commence.
Additional Public Prosecutor A K Manoj also confirmed the order and told PTI that the court has said the two life terms awarded to Kumar would run concurrently.
He also said that the court has imposed a total fine of Rs 5.85 lakh on the convict.
Another reason cited by the court for not awarding death was the lack of criminal antecedents of the convict, he said.
After the sentence was pronounced, the victim's mother told a news channel that she was not satisfied with the decision as she had expected death would be awarded to the convict.
Sooraj had killed his wife Uthra by letting a cobra bite her in her sleep in May last year.
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
