12, Feb 2016

Feb 12 2016 : The Times of India (Mumbai)
George Mendonca
Navi Mumbai:

The Bombay high court has upheld the Thane district sessions court order sentencing an advocate from Vashi to life imprisonment for murdering his wife 12 years ago. The HC passed the order on February 5 on an appeal filed by the advocate.
Advocate Yogesh Bharadwaj, 39, killed his wife Prachi by assaulting her with a flower vase and throttling her at their Vashi flat on the intervening night of March 30 and 31, 2003.He dumped her body in the cupboard and informed her parents on phone that she was dead. Bharadwaj, an alcoholic was having an extra-marital affair with his colleague, who used to visit his house while his wife was away . The couple had frequent quarrels over this and Bharadwaj used to beat his wife, the police had said. The couple even opted for a divorce but the couple’s parents later settled the disputes amicably . Prachi, 26, was the daughter of lawyer Dinesh Kausadikar and social activist Sandhya Kausadikar.
Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi in her judgment stated that the prosecution had succeeded in proving its case against Bharadwaj beyond reasonable doubt. The plea taken by Bharadwaj of Prachi committing suicide was proved false. Another plea by him that some intruder might have entered the house was also falsified.
The HC said the trial court has therefore, rightly convicted and sentenced Bharadwaj.