8 years on, 37-year-old Navi Mumbai man convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life for murdering pregnant wife in 2017

Navi Mumbai: A 37-year-old man from Yadav Nagar, Digha, arrested by Rabale MIDC police for murdering his 24-year-old pregnant wife in Dec 2017, was convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life by the district and additional sessions court at Belapur on Wednesday.The accused, Akhilesh Gupta, then 28, worked as a machine operator in a private company. Police said Gupta had an extramarital affair with a teenage schoolgirl residing in the same locality, who disclosed details about him.Gupta claimed his wife, Mamta, was killed at their residence when he took their 2-year-old daughter for a post-dinner stroll. After police questioned Gupta following the minor girl's statement, he confessed to killing his wife, who was 6 months pregnant, as she was an obstacle in his plans to marry the teenager.Then investigating officer, senior inspector Chandrakant Katkar, said, "The accused, Akhilesh Gupta, was a prime suspect. The call data records of Gupta revealed he was constantly in touch with a 16-year-old girl, who resided in his locality. When detained for inquiry, the girl revealed Gupta had assaulted his wife in her presence due to which she bled profusely and collapsed. Thereafter, Gupta took his daughter outside the house pretending to go for a stroll and told the co-accused teen girl to bolt the door from inside and exit from the rear door."Katkar said Gupta returned after 15 minutes and raised an alarm that his wife was not opening the door. He entered through the rear door with the help of neighbours to the sight of his wife lying in a pool of blood.The co-accused minor girl was then detained by the police and after producing her before the Juvenile Court in Bhiwandi, she was remanded to Juvenile shelter home.The court considered the prosecution's arguments, the confessional statement of the accused and the testimony of the co-accused teenage girl submitted by the police, and pronounced the judgment that the accused Akhilesh Gupta was found guilty of the offence of his pregnant wife's murder. The court then convicted and sentenced Gupta to rigorous imprisonment for life after the prosecution sought the strictest punishment.
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