At last, life sentence for Mahanand
PTI, PANAJI | 11 June 2011 00:01 IST
A local court today sentenced "serial killer" Mahanand Naik to life imprisonment for murdering a 32-year-old woman at Bambolim village in 2007.
North Goa Principal Sessions Judge Nutan Sardesai sentenced the 40-year-old to life in prison after the prosecution did not press for death sentence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.30 lakh on him for the murder at Bambolim near here.
This was the first conviction for Naik who was dubbed a "serial killer" after he was accused of murdering at least 18 women in the state over one-and-half decades.
He has been acquitted in seven cases till now.
Clad in a light green formal shirt and dark blue jeans, Naik showed no emotions as the judge read out the order.
He, however, smiled at the waiting journalists as he came out of the court.
Police had chargesheeted Naik for killing Susheela Fatarpekar on October 24, 2007.
The killer allegedly removed ornaments from Susheela's body after strangling her to death using a `dupatta' and dumped the body on a plateau.
The victim was working as a sweeper in a private firm. He was chargesheeted under IPC sections 364 (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder), 302 (murder), 392 (robbery) and 201 (destruction of evidence).
The prosecution had examined 21 witnesses. Naik, a resident of Shiroda village, was arrested on April 21, 2009 for allegedly raping his wife's friend. During custodial interrogation, he confessed to a string of murders, according to police.
