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SCMP Reporter

Indian party leader is convicted of killing his wife and putting her body in an oven

In a major blow to the Congress party ahead of crucial elections, a court yesterday convicted a prominent party leader of murdering his wife and burning her body in the tandoor, or clay oven, of a popular restaurant in New Delhi.

Judge G.P. Thareja pronounced Congress leader Sushil Sharma, 44, guilty of premeditated murder and destroying evidence, as hundreds of women activists outside the packed courtroom shouted slogans demanding capital punishment for the notorious 'tandoor killer'.

Sharma's lawyer, M.P. Chauhan, said he would appeal.  Sharma will be sentenced  tomorrow.

He could receive the death penalty or life imprisonment for the murder, which took place on July 2, 1995.

The judge cited DNA tests, post-mortem reports, testimonies of witnesses and circumstantial evidence to convict Sharma.

The former Youth Congress president was tried for shooting his wife, Naina Sahni, 29, and shoving the body into the tandoor of New Delhi's upmarket Bagiya restaurant.

The strong smell of flesh burning  at night drew two police constables to the restaurant. Restaurant manager Keshav Kumar was caught  stoking the tandoor from where the murdered woman's badly charred body was recovered.

According to the prosecution, Sharma killed his wife because he suspected her of having an extra-marital affair with a Congress Party worker.

'He fired three bullets from his licensed revolver killing her on the spot. One bullet pierced her head, the second entered her neck and the third hit the air conditioner in their bedroom', said police inspector Niranjan Singh. Sharma disappeared after the murder.  The public outcry forced the police to announce a reward of 100,000 rupees (HK$17,170) for information about his whereabouts.

After surrendering on July 10, 1995, in Bangalore, Sharma claimed he had been framed by his political opponents.

He insisted that he was not even in town on July 2 and claimed that he learned about his wife's death from newspapers and television.

Yesterday,  the judge criticised the police for their failure to prosecute a senior bureaucrat, D.K. Rao, who allegedly harboured  Sharma when he was on the run.

Mr Rao, who belongs to the elite Indian Administrative Service, was reportedly Sharma's childhood friend.

Restaurant manager Kumar was found guilty of destroying evidence and will be sentenced tomorrow.



Activists demand death sentence for 'tandoor killer'