Dehradun/Bhubaneswar: A Dehradun court on Friday sentenced software engineer Rajesh Gulati to life imprisonment for the gruesome murder of his 36-year-old wife from Odisha, Anupama seven years ago.
S. K Mohanty, the counsel of Anupama’s brother Sujan Pradhan said, “The additional district sessions judge has given life imprisonment to Rajesh under section 302 of IPC along with Rs 10 lakh fine. Besides, the court has also sentenced three years of imprisonment under section 201 for destroying evidence along with Rs 5 lakh fine.”
“Out of the total Rs 15 lakh, Rajesh has to deposit Rs 70,000 with the state exchequer while the rest Rs 14.30 lakh have to be fixed as deposits in the name of their two children,” Mohanty said.
Asked about the judgment, Anupama's brother Sujan said they are happy with the judgment of the court. We are also happy over the manner the court has shown concern for the welfare of the two children.
On the other hand, the opposition counsel appearing for Rajesh said "We will appeal against the life imprisonment order since we cannot be held guilty. It is our constitutional right."
On October 17, 2010 Rajesh beat his wife Anupama to death and chopped her body into pieces and stashed them in a deep freezer. Later he gradually kept disposing her body parts one by one in the forests on the outskirts of Dehradun.
Anupama's body parts were later recovered from the freezer on December 12, 2010 after her brother Sujan approached the Dehradun police and filed a complaint to trace his missing sister.