Man gets lifer for wife's murder on daughter's testimony

Relying primarily on the testimony of a nine-year-old girl, a sessions court here has convicted her father, a naval officer, for murdering his wife.

Upendra Rai (35) has been sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday for murdering his wife Vandana (32) on October 24, 2005 on suspicion of having an illicit relationship.

On the day of the incident, the accused came to his residence in an inebriated state around 2330 hours and picked up a fight with his wife and started assaulting her physically.

Vandana fled to an under construction building in the neighbourhood. Upendra followed her and attacked her with a bamboo stick.

A profusely bleeding Vandana was then rushed to a nearby hospital by the building supervisor, who also lodged a complaint at the Colaba police station.

Upendra was arrested immediately and booked for attempt to murder, which was then changed to murder charge after Vandana succumbed to her injuries in the hospital few days later.

The prosecution examined 14 witnesses in the case, including the nine-year-old girl. The girl narrated the entire incident in court, revealing how her father dragged her mother and brutally attacked her inside their house.