The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : End to 14-year case

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Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

End to 14-year case

K.V. Subramanya

Life sentence awarded to Shraddananda

Shraddananda

BANGALORE: The 14-year-long legal trial of one of the most sensational murder cases of Karnataka has come to an end with the Supreme Court on Tuesday awarding life sentence to the self-styled godman Swami Shraddananda (72), for murdering his wife Begum Shakereh Namazi Khaleeli.

The murder that was reported from Ashoknagar police station limits in central Bangalore had grabbed the attention of the public, the police and legal fraternity. According to the charge sheet filed in jurisdictional court in Bangalore by the then Inspector C. Veeraiah of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) who investigated the case, Shraddananda had drugged Shakereh, placed her body in a coffin and buried it in a corner of the compound of her palatial bungalow on Richmond Road on April 28, 1991.

After divorcing her husband, Akbar Khaleeli, a former diplomat, in 1985, Shakereh married Shraddananda, a native of Madhya Pradesh, in 1986. She was the granddaughter of the former Dewan of Mysore, Sir Mirza Ismail.

The State had argued that Shraddananda had murdered Shakereh to usurp her property. Shraddananda continued to live in Shakereh’s bungalow even after her death.

Assets taken

He had alienated her property after her death, emptied the lockers and cleared the bank accounts.

When Shakereh’s daughters from her earlier marriage questioned Shraddananda about their mother, he had told them that she had gone abroad.

One of her daughters lodged a complaint with the police about her “missing” mother.

In 1994, a constable, Mahadeva, took out a male servant of Shraddananda for a drink and he spilled the beans. In April the same year, Shakereh’s body was exhumed. The police arrested Shraddananda on March 28, 1994, and he has been in judicial custody since then.

According to the police, DNA and superimposition techniques were used to identify the skeleton as that of Shakereh.

Hair and blood samples of her relatives matched with the sample collected from the bone marrow of the skeleton.

The 23rd Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, B.S. Thotad, in May 2005 sentenced Swami Shraddananda, who was earlier known as Murli Manohar Mishra, to death for murdering Shakereh and for destroying evidence. The Judge had also sentenced Shraddananda to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs. 10,000 for destruction of evidence.

Later, the Karnataka High Court had confirmed the sentence of the lower court.

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