Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha MLA Ramamurthy Gomango was awarded life imprisonment for killing his wife.

Hearing a quantum of punishment in Sashirekha Gomango murder case, a special court of Additional District Judge (ADJ-III) in Bhubaneswar today sentenced the convict to life imprisonment under section 302 of IPC.

Besides, he was slapped with Rs 50,000 fine, failing to which he will serve one year in jail. The court also imposed Rs 10,000 fine on him under section 201 of IPC. If the convict fails to pay the penalty amount, he will have to undergo six-month imprisonment.

On June 24, the court that deals with MLA and MP cases had convicted the former legislator from Gunupur Assembly Constituency, Ramamurthy Gomango, in the murder case.

Based on the statements of 11 witnesses and 15 documents pertaining to the case, Gomango was convicted for brutally killing his wife in 1995, who was around 5-month pregnant.

According to reports, the body of Gomango’s wife Sashirekha was spotted with severe burn injuries at his residence (Qr. No.-DS-18/1) at MLA Colony on August 29,1995, in Bhubaneswar.

Initially, an unnatural death case was registered at the Kharavel Nagar Police Station in Bhubaneswar and a probe was initiated. Subsequently, a probe team converted it to a murder case under Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Nearly three decades later, the court convicted the accused in the murder case.