Woman gets life for hubby's murder, Aligarh court allows her to keep 3 kids in jail

AGRA: A district court in Aligarh sentenced a 35-year-old woman -- a mother of four minor children -- and her 36-year-old lover to life imprisonment for the murder of her husband, Lekhraj Singh, in 2013. The verdict was delivered by additional district and sessions judge Vinay Tiwari after a decade-long trial, and the court accepted the woman's plea to keep her three kids -- aged 3, 4 and 5 years -- with her in prison "to raise them as there was no one else in the family". The eldest, 9, was already sent to a juvenile home. During the trial, the court found the woman Kamlesh Devi conspired with her lover Rajesh Kumar to kill her husband on the night of April 11, 2013, in Badi Ukrawali under Akarabad in Aligarh district.
ADGC Harsh Bardhan Singh said the duo -- "driven by personal motives" -- shot Lekhraj while he was asleep. The ADGC added: "In 2012, Kamlesh eloped with Rajesh from the same village. She returned a year later upon learning that her husband intended to sell his farm land and resumed living with him, which thereafter resulted in the crime."
An FIR was registered under IPC section 302 (murder) after Lekhraj's brother, Om Prakash, filed a complaint at Akarabad police station. Both the accused were initially arrested and sent to jail. Weeks later, police filed a chargesheet in the court. One-and-a-half years later they were released on bail.
Out on bail, Kamlesh and Rajesh started living together and had four children. After their sentencing, Kamlesh requested the court's nod to keep three of her kids "under her care".
The ADGC said, "After examining witnesses and evidence in detail, the court sentenced the woman and her lover to life in jail on Wednesday and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of them."