Woman who gave contract to kill husband gets bail after two years

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

The High Court of Karnataka has granted bail to a 24-year-old woman who is accused of paying contract killers to murder her husband. The mother of two was granted bail by Justice K Natarajan as the progress in the trial was slow and as a woman special consideration should be shown to her. “This petitioner is in custody more than two years and she is having two children who are 3 and 4 years old and no one to look after them.

The apprehension of the prosecution is that the petitioner may flee away from justice if bail is granted. It is also pertinent to note there that the Trial Court in spite of committal of the case, has shown no progress in the trial. The petitioner is a woman having special consideration under Section 437(2) of CrPC. She is in custody for more than two years,” the HC said granting her bail. The accused woman is charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including murder and under the Indian Arms Act.

She is accused of paying contract killers to murder her husband Nemaram who was killed on January 21, 2020. The HC in its judgment noted the charges against her. “During the investigation, they found this petitioner is having illicit intimacy with accused No.1 and hatched conspiracy to commit the muder of her husband. She has given the contract killing. In turn, accused Nos.1 to 3 have committed murder and she has suppressed the fact. She has informed the complainant (husband’s brother) that some unknown persons came for committing dacoity and committed murder,” the HC noted.

The accused woman was arrested on October 21, 2020 and she has been in custody since then. He first bail petition was rejected in 2020 and she filed a successive bail petition after the charge sheet was filed which was also rejected in 2021. This time however, the HC granted her bail on a personal bond for a sum of Rs.5 lakh with two sureties for a like sum. She was also directed not to tamper with the prosecution witnesses directly or indirectly and not leave the jurisdiction of the Trial Court without prior permission