Life Imprisonment only 14 years?

Even if it took 11 long years, its good to hear that justice prevailed and Murli Manohar Mishra (the self styled Swami Shradananda) has been handed the death sentence. I hope he hangs.

For those that do not know, Misra murdered his wife Shakereh, a very wealthy lady, grand-daughter of Dewan Mirza Ismail who did Bangalore so much good.

It appears Misra first drugged Shakereh and then put her in a box and buried the box in the garden / courtyeard. Shakereh was not dead at the time and it appears she struggled to get out of her impossible situation and she must have had a frightening, horrible, slow death.

Misra maintained his wife had disappeared but the crime came to light about two years after it was committed when one of those that helped to bury the box shot his mouth off and Misra was arrested and jailed.

His time in jail has been pleasant from what we hear and he apparently wielded a lot of power and influence. I remember reading about him conducting meditation classes!!

NDTV said Misra has confessed to the guilt but will appeal for a commutation of his sentence to life imprisonment.

His line of reasoning? "I'm over 60 years old. I've suffered from hernia and a cardiac arrest. I have arthritis, blood pressure and diabetes. I have a 96-year-old father to take care of. I won the Best Prisoner of the Year award."

Shakereh was still in her prime with two young daughters to look after but Misra went ahead and murdered her anyway.

The higher courts need to ratify the death sentence and Misra is appealing. Given the track record of Indian Courts, it will be a long time before this case is settled.

And if he is given the life sentence, he will walk free in another 3 years. If I am not mistaken, life term in the Indian judicial system means 14 years. Misra has already been in jail as a under trial for 11 years so he has just another 3 years to go before he can walk out a free man. That's gross injustice.

I think life term should be just that - till death not a measly 14 years.

And in this particular case, I hope the Indian Courts act swiftly and confirm the death sentence.

Not sure, but this will probably be Karnataka's first instance of capital punishment since Independence.