Meerut (UP), Oct 16 A local court, while sentencing a woman and her lover to death on Friday for murdering her husband and making it appear as a snakebite death, cited the Manusmriti — saying “fear of punishment keeps society under control”.
The court also referred to the mythological figure Savitri, who bargained with Yama to save her husband’s life, observing that a wife is considered her husband’s better half, government counsel Farzana Maqsood said.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Jaiveer Singh Nagar began the 131-page judgment by quoting a verse from the Manusmriti regarding the duties of a ruler and the importance of maintaining order in society.
Quoting the original verse, the judgement went on to explain: “Fear of punishment keeps society under control. Without punishment, the wicked would prey upon the righteous.”
The judgement further stated that unrighteousness would never triumph over the righteous, referring to the Manusmriti.
The court termed the case “rarest of rare” and awarded death penalty to Ravita and Amardeep for murdering Amit Kashyap and destroying evidence. They were convicted on October 7.
The prosecution sought maximum punishment, citing the gravity and brutality of the crime. Government counsel Farzana Maqsood and the victim’s lawyer Balraj Singh presented the prosecution’s arguments. They also cited previous Supreme Court and high court judgments.
According to police, Amit was found dead on a cot at his house in Akbarpur Sadat village in Meerut’s Bahsuma area on April 13, 2025. A live snake was found beside his body, leading his family to initially suspect snakebite.
However, postmortem revealed injury marks on his neck and nose, and suggesting death by strangulation, police said.
Amit’s brother Monu lodged an FIR against Ravita and Amardeep on April 16, 2025.
According to the prosecution, Ravita and Amardeep were in a relationship. Amit had learnt about it, leading to frequent disputes between the couple. The two allegedly strangled him and left a live snake beside the body to make the murder appear like a snakebite death.
Before sentencing, Ravita sought leniency, citing her three young children, while Amardeep said he had elderly parents.
Amit’s mother, Munesh Devi, welcomed the verdict, saying the family had sought death penalty from the beginning, and had received justice.
The sentence comes two days after another Meerut court awarded death penalty to Muskan Rastogi and her lover Sahil Shukla for murdering Muskan’s husband Saurabh Rajput and concealing his dismembered body in a blue drum.
(PTI News)
