The convicts had killed Muniyappa, 36, and his second wife, Pushpa, 36, by setting their house on fire.
The 17th Fast Track Court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to three persons, including a woman, for burning a couple in 2008.
The convicts have been identified as Rekha Devi, 27, of Chittoor; Raveendra, 29, of Roopena Agrahara, and Sampath, 40, of Andhra Pradesh. Another accused, Varalakshmamma, was acquitted owing to lack of evidence.
Public prosecutor Ganapathi Prasanna told DNA that the court arrived at the verdict after examining 32 material evidence. Each convict was given life term along with a fine of Rs70,000 each. Out of the total fine of Rs2.1 lakh, Rs1.75 lakh must be deposited in the name of the couple’s daughter.
The convicts had killed Muniyappa, 36, and his second wife, Pushpa, 36, by setting their house on fire. The couple was locked inside the house. The couple’s daughter, who was two years old at the time, survived the incident, which occurred in the limits of Parappana Agrahara police station.
Jealousy was the motive
Muniyappa, a carpenter by profession and a resident of Channakeshavanagar near Parappana Agrahara, married Rekha and later separated from her when he discovered that she had an extramarital affair. He then married Pushpa, who gave birth to a girl. The couple was living in a house near Parappana Agrahara. Muniyappa transferred the ownership of the house to Pushpa.
This infuriated Rekha, who threatened Muniyappa. The demand was turned down.
Even a complaint did not work in Rekha’s favour as the police suggested she take the matter to court as it was a civil dispute.
Rekha decided to kill Muniyappa and his family. She, along with her paramour Raveendra and Sampath, her mother’s friend , hatched a plan to kill the couple.
They came to Muniyappa’s house late on January 13, 2008. They locked the door and removed a few asbestos sheets from the roof. Then they poured about 10 litres of petrol into the house and set it afire.
Neighbours doused the fire and took the family to hospital.
The couple died in the hospital, but not before Muniyappa described the incident to the police.
After investigating the case, the police filed a charge-sheet in the court, which convicted three of the four accused.
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