Mumbai, July 13: The Bombay High Court has sentenced a man to life, more than two decades after he murdered his wife and two young daughters.
Satish Agarwal of Daman, now 55, had been on bail since 1987. He had killed his family while they were sleeping, frustrated after he had gambled, lost and fallen into a debt he couldn’t repay. He tried to kill himself, too, but survived.
A division bench of Justice B H Marlapalle and Justice S J Vazifdar said: “It is said that alcoholism coupled with gambling has the power to free a man from the shackles of self-control and unleash bloody paths, but this case goes much beyond that general belief and puts up a gory story of triple murders by a loving and caring husband and father who was liberated from self-control by alcoholism and gambling.”
Satish Agarwal and his brother Rakesh lived in the same house. According to the prosecution, on June 23, 1987, Rakesh’s wife Jyotiben found a note by Satish on the door, confessing he had killed his wife Lalitaben and daughters Sushma (7) and Anjana (eight months) and would jump into the sea. Rakesh then found the three bodies in the room.
They rushed to the shore and found fishermen rescuing Satish from the sea. Later, the prosecution said, Satish told his brother of his gambling debts and said this was why he had killed his family. Lalitaben’s brother Ramsharan Agarwal lodged a complaint and Satish was arrested.
During the trial, Satish denied having killed anyone. He said he had gone to the home of another brother, Gopal, in Moti Daman on June 22, 1987. He said he returned the next morning and learnt from his nephew Pavan that his wife and children were dead. He lost his balance and fell off the bridge into the sea, he said.
After hearing both sides, the bench observed that the case of the prosecution was based on circumstantial evidence but it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Defence counsel A P Mundargi pleaded for leniency, saying the accused had been on bail for the last 20 years and no motive had been attributed for the murders. An order of conviction and sentence had been passed on February 2, 1989. The court cancelled the bail and directed Satish to surrender before the trial court.
The bench ruled, “When the case of the accused is being considered for commutation under Section 433 of CrPc by the competent authority on completion of a minimum sentence of 14 years, the said authority may consider his case sympathetically having regard to the peculiar facts of this case.”
It observed, “He killed his dear wife and two daughters while they were fast asleep and attempted to end his life as well but destiny had ordained a different course.”
–Agencies