Begusarai: A court in Bihar’s Begusarai district has sentenced a woman and her alleged lover to life imprisonment for the murder of her husband in a case that dates back to January 2024.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) Sanjay Kumar Singh of the Manjhaul court on Thursday awarded life imprisonment to Rani Kumari alias Rani Raj and her boyfriend Mohammad Shehzad. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 each on the convicts. The sentences will run concurrently.
The court convicted both under Sections 302/34 and 302/120B of the Indian Penal Code for murder and criminal conspiracy. If the fine is not paid, the convicts will have to undergo an additional one year of imprisonment.
According to Additional Public Prosecutor Rakesh Kumar, the incident took place on January 7, 2024, in Fafaut village under Khodabandpur police station limits in Begusarai. The victim, Maheshwar Rai (25), was a resident of Narhan village in the Vibhutipur police station area of Samastipur district.
The case was lodged by the victim’s father, Ram Pravesh Rai, who accused his daughter-in-law Rani Kumari, her alleged lover Mohammad Shehzad, and three other members of her family—Sunita Devi, Rozi Kumari and Sonali Kumari—of conspiring to murder his son. However, during investigation, police did not find sufficient evidence against the woman’s mother and sisters and filed charges only against Rani Kumari and Shehzad.
According to the FIR, Maheshwar Rai married Rani Kumari in 2017 and the couple has a son who is currently about seven years old. The victim’s father alleged that Rani Kumari frequently posted videos on social media platforms, including Instagram, and the couple often argued over her social media activity.
Maheshwar, who worked as a labourer in Kolkata, had returned home a few days before the incident. According to the complaint, he visited his in-laws’ house in Fafaut village after being called by his wife before he was scheduled to return to Kolkata for work.
After dinner on the night of January 7, Maheshwar allegedly went to sleep. The prosecution stated that Rani Kumari then called her lover Shehzad to the house, and the two allegedly strangled Maheshwar to death using a scarf.
About half an hour after the incident, Maheshwar’s brother Rudal, who was in Kolkata, called him. The phone was answered by someone else, and he reportedly heard commotion in the background. Suspecting something was wrong, Rudal informed his father and asked him to immediately visit the in-laws’ house.
Ram Pravesh Rai said that when he reached the house with relatives, he found his son’s body lying outside and the family members of his daughter-in-law had fled. Some youths reportedly attempted to take the body to the hospital, but the family stopped them and informed the police.
Police launched an investigation after receiving information about the murder on the night of January 7. The then Superintendent of Police Yogendra Kumar had stated that the probe revealed that the victim’s wife and her lover had jointly planned the murder.
During the trial, the prosecution presented seven witnesses, including the complainant, the doctor who conducted the post-mortem, and the investigating officer. Based on the evidence and testimonies, the court had on March 25 found both accused guilty of murdering Maheshwar Rai as part of a conspiracy.
Reacting to the verdict, the victim’s father said he was satisfied with the court’s decision and that justice had been delivered.
