Pune: The court of Additional Sessions Judge DP Ragit convicted and sentenced nurse Savita Prakash Jadhav (35) to life imprisonment for murdering her live-in partner Pravin Dnyanoba Bhagyawant, a driver with Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, on Sept 3, 2018.The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the convict, who will have to serve a one-year rigorous imprisonment in case of failure to deposit the fine.The murder was a fallout of an extramarital relationship that turned sour when Savita started pestering Pravin for marriage despite the latter already being married. On the day of the incident, she attacked the victim with an axe, causing grievous injuries to his neck and head. Pravin succumbed to his injuries in a hospital while undergoing treatment.“His wife, Sunita, was a key eyewitness in the case along with her neighbours, who took Pravin to hospital,” prosecutor Leena Pathak told TOI. “The medical examination reports and deposition by neighbours also proved crucial,” she said, adding that the prosecution had examined 11 witnesses in support of the case.At the point of sentence, judge Ragit turned down the prosecution’s plea for capital punishment to the convict, observing that the case did not fall within the ambit of rarest of rare crime to warrant such punishment. The judge, however, held that the prosecution had proved the case beyond doubt and went on to sentence the accused to life imprisonment.The judge noted, “Prosecution has produced cogent & clinching direct and circumstantial evidence on record and proved that the accused had assaulted deceased Pravin Dnyanoba Bhagyawant with an axe on his head, neck & chest and caused injuries to vital organs, with intention and knowledge that her act of causing said injuries would result in the death of deceased, and she intentionally caused his death due to frequent quarrels between them out of love-affair & illicit relationship.“
