By IANS
Dehradun : Uttar Pradesh legislator and former state minister Amarmani Tripathi and his wife Madhumani were Wednesday awarded life sentences by a special court here for the controversial murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla.
The court awarded life terms to the Tripathis, their nephew Rohit Chaturvedi and an acquaintance Santosh Roy. District and Sessions Judge V.B. Roy also imposed a fine of Rs.50,000 each on the convicts.
Madhumita was found murdered at her Lucknow flat May 9, 2003. She was allegedly killed at the behest of Madhumani, who was opposed to Madhumita’s alleged affair with her husband.
The special court acquitted P.C. Pandey, who was accused of having shot Madhumita dead, saying that evidences were insufficient.
“I respect the court’s verdict. I had lots of hope from the court. Amarmani tried all his tactics to get out of the case, but the fight has just begun. He should be kept in jail and should not be let out at any cost,” Madhumita’s sister, Nidhi, who was the main witness in the case, told reporters outside the court.
However, she expressed disappointment that the accused had not been given death sentences.
A post-mortem report had revealed that Madhumita was pregnant at the time of her death. The murder case had hit the headlines as Amarmani was a powerful and influential political leader in the state.