A 44-year-old man was sentenced to death by a court in adjoining Washim district in a 2012 murder case where the victim was brutally be-headed and thrown into a village well.
Observing that the crime fell under the category of "rarest of rare", Additional Sessions judge D K Bhende awarded the death penalty to accused Ramesh Lahane recently. He was also sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment for destroying evidence under section 201 of the IPC.
Besides, he was imposed with a fine of Rs 3,000 too.
The murder took place on February 5, 2012 over a land dispute between accused Ramesh and victim Vishwanath Lahane (50). The latter was murdered by Ramesh after an altercation and the body was disposed of in a well at Shivar in Zaklwadi village.
Vishwanath's disrobed torso was later recovered from the well and identified on February 11.
The deceased's head which was concealed elsewhere was traced by a dog following which the postmortem was conducted. It suggested that the victim was killed after his throat was slit.
This is the second death penalty awarded by Washim court. Earlier in 2003, a man was given capital punishment for heinously killing his wife in Manora village.
