Swami Shraddhananda : Godman in Jail

Death Sentence for Swami Shraddhananda

The Karnataka High Court confirmed, 19th September 2005, the death sentence awarded by the sessions court to Swami Shraddhananda alias Murli Manohar Mishra for the sensational murder of his wife Begum Shakira Namazi alias Shakereh Khaleeli.

Terming it the "rarest of rare cases", In their order, the division bench comprising Justices S G Bannurmath and A C Kabbin, said:

"The accused had murdered his wife in a diabolical and a well-planned scheme. As such the death penalty imposed on him is liable to be confirmed. Anything less than a penalty of greatest severity for any serious crime is thought to be a measure of tolerance that is unwarranted and unwise. The sessions court is justified in awarding death penalty to the accused."

The 25th Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bangalore, B.S. Totad, on 20th May 2005 had convicted Swami Shraddananda in the sensational murder. The judge had held him guilty on two counts: murder (Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code -- IPC) and destruction of evidence (Section 201 of the IPC). The sessions judge had described the murder as a gruesome motivated killing for gain. "The prosecution has established this beyond all reasonable doubt," he said in his 239-page judgment.

Shraddananda allegedly killed Shakira, former wife of a diplomat, Akbar Khalili, and buried her body in a corner of the compound of her palatial bungalow on Richmond Road on April 28, 1991.

Extracts from the Bangalore edition of "The Hindu" ( )dated 21st May 2005:

"Swami Shraddananda, the main accused in the case, in 1986 married Shakira, granddaughter of a former Dewan of Mysore, Sir Mirza Ismail. She had divorced Mr. Khalili in 1985. A native of Madhya Pradesh, Shraddananda's original name was Murli Manohar Mishra. He decided to get rid of Shakira as he wanted to acquire her property, C.V. Nagesh, lawyer for the State, said.

Shraddananda gave sleeping pills to Shakira leading to her death, put her body in a wooden box, put it into a pit dug up in the bungalow compound and had it covered with the help of servants, Mr. Nagesh said. Shraddananda continued to live in the bungalow thereafter.

On being questioned about the whereabouts of Shakira, Sharaddananda said she had gone abroad. He gave the same answer to Shakira's daughters.

One of the daughters of Shakira lodged a complaint with the police who failed to make any headway for years. It was only in 1994 that the first hint of foul play surfaced when a constable, Mahadeva, got a servant of Shraddananda drunk and made him confess. In April 1994, the skeleton of Shakrira was dug out from the pit. The police arrested Shraddananda and lodged him in prison on March 28, 1994.

Shraddananda was present in the court on Friday.

Mr. Nagesh urged the court to award death sentence to the accused considering it as "the rarest of rare cases of pre-planned, wanton and cruel murder." Shraddananda had breached the trust of "the woman who had beauty, wealth, status and had sacrificed everything for his sake," he said.

C.H. Hanumantharaya, who defended Shraddananda, said it is not the rarest of rare cases and pleaded for life imprisonment to his client considering that he had already spent 11 years in jail and was an exemplary prisoner.

Shraddananada urged the court to show leniency as he was 69 years of age and a heart patient. He had an aged father in Madhya Pradesh whom he had to take care of.

DNA and superimposition techniques were used to identify the skeleton as that of Shakira. Hair and blood samples of her relatives matched with the sample collected from the bone marrow of the skeleton."

Extracts from "The Hindu", Bangalore dated 20th September 2005:

The prosecution's case was that Shraddananda, earlier known as Murli Manohar Mishra (69), had drugged Shakereh, placed her body in a coffin, and buried it in a corner in the compound of her sprawling bungalow on Richmond Road, Bangalore, on April 28, 1991. Shakereh married Shraddananda in 1986 after divorcing Akbar Khaleeli, a former diplomat. The prosecution contended that Shraddananda wanted to usurp Shakereh's property and continued to live in her bungalow after her death.

Complaint

Shakereh's daughter, Sabah, lodged a missing-person complaint with the police. In April 1994, Shakereh's body was exhumed and Shraddananda was arrested.

The Bench said in its order that Special Public Prosecutor H.S. Chandramouli had rightly held the murder fell in the category of "rarest of rare" cases, and the sentence ordered by the lower court should be confirmed. Shraddananda's lawyer opposed the death penalty. The Bench said that though there is not enough material to show that Shakereh met a violent end, she was administered a drug and died in her sleep. "Though the act was not brutal, the planning by the accused indicated a scheming and diabolic mind."