Life term for man who killed mom for denying money for his wife’s cesarean delivery

Dehradun: A 38-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Chamoli for killing his mother after she refused to provide money for his wife's caesarean delivery. The incident took place on the night of Jan 27, 2022, and the testimony by one of the daughters-in-law, Urmila Devi, of the deceased woman Champa Devi played a key role in nailing the accused son, Kalam Ram.During the trial, Urmila Devi told the court that it was bitterly cold and snowing on the eve of the murder incident when her husband's elder brother, Kalam Ram, reached home and asked for money from his mother.She added, "There was a heated argument between Kalam Ram and Champa Devi. After dinner, both of them went to sleep in the next room. Around midnight, I heard a scuffle again and then a shrill sound. I got scared hearing this and I locked my room from inside."The next morning, when Urmila went to Champa Devi's room, she saw her lying on the floor -- bleeding from her head. Seeing this, she raised an alarm, but by then, the accused had fled. She also informed her husband, Heera Ram.The village head thereafter informed the police. In the postmortem, doctors found "fracture of frontal lobe on left side and partial fracture of occipital bone on left side" and stated that the woman was "hit on the head with a strong object, causing her death".Police arrested the accused on Jan 29, 2022, and sent him to jail. They also recovered the stick with which Kalam Ram killed his mother.After reviewing evidence and hearing arguments from both sides, the court of additional district judge, Karnaprayag, on Friday declared Kalam Ram guilty of murdering his mother. In addition, the court imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him.