INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE ACQUITTED

the Orissa High Court in India waived a death sentence ordered six months ago by the Malkangiri Additional Sessions court. The High Court dismissed the “circumstantial” evidence as inadequate and acquitted a man charged with beating his wife to death. The trial judge decided that the witness statements against Sunadhar Khilla, 40, who had allegedly kicked and punched his wife Gurubari Khilla, 30, to death, proved his guilt in 2002. “Today a bench of Justices Laxmikanta Mohapatra and Bimal Prasad Das gave their verdict on the sentence and acquitted Khilla,” Khilla’s counsel Gourishankar Pani said. Reports stated that on the evening of August 22, 2002, the two allegedly quarrelled over who should cook the meals for the night. Later, Gurubari went to sleep without cooking. Subsequently, an angry Sunadhar kicked and punched her in the stomach till she started bleeding. As a result she eventually died.