Man jailed for life for killing paternal uncle over property dispute in Palghar

A court in Maharashtra has sentenced a 52-year-old man from Palghar district to life imprisonment for killing his 75-year-old paternal uncle over a property dispute seven years ago.

In her order on Wednesday, Sessions Judge Rachna R Tehra also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Ramdas Shankar Budhar of Jawhar taluka after convicting him under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

Additional Public Prosecutor Sandhya H Mhatre told the court that Ramdas and his father's brother Ambu Navsu Budhar had a running feud over the division of their ancestral property. Ramdas often fought with his uncle claiming that he was given non-fertile land, the court was told.

On the morning of March 5, 2016, Ramdas killed his uncle, who was sleeping on his farm, with an axe. APP Mhatre said 12 prosecution witnesses were examined to prove the crime and the court relied on the circumstantial evidence before it while convicting and sentencing Ramdas.