Suhaib Ilyasi killed wife fearing she may disclose his frauds: Court

New Delhi: Suhaib Ilyasi was at the pinnacle of his career during his 'India's Most Wanted' show, and killed his wife fearing she may make public his fraudulent acts and forgeries, which may be a blot on his success story, a Delhi court said on Wednesday while convicting him for the murder.

The court, which sentenced him to life imprisonment for the offence of murder, made the observation in its 125-page verdict noting that Ilyasi possessed two passports, used fake degree for job and had committed credit card fraud.

The court also observed that the relationship between Ilyasi and his wife Anju were strained, and the former TV producer's conduct towards her was "not cordial".

"There exists adequate material on record to prove that relations between the two were strained, and that the conduct of the accused towards his wife was not cordial.

"The evidence on record also suggests that the accused was at pinnacle of his career, and had earned immense reputation/success from his show 'India's Most Wanted' and his wife deceased Anju, who knew about all the forgeries and wrong acts i.e possessing two passports, using fake degree for job, committing credit card fraud etc. could have let public know about these facts, which could very easily ruin his hard-earned success, since she had made up her mind to leave the accused and settle down in Canada, as such, the circumstances so appeared would have impelled the accused to go to any extent," Additional Sessions Judge S K Malhotra said.

The court refused to accept the claim of Ilyasi that his wife committed suicide, saying it stood "fully falsified" by the medical and other evidences on record.

"This court reaches the inescapable conclusion that the defence taken by accused that the deceased had committed suicide by stabbing herself at their residence, is not acceptable since the prosecution evidence coupled with other material on record does not indicate that she committed suicide," it said.

The court said the charge under section 302 (murder) of the IPC stands fully proved since in spite of the fact that accused had been in the same room, he failed to explain as to why there were no cut marks on the clothes of victim and how her blood travelled to the bed, bathroom, sink and drain.

It also said that his version that Anju had consumed sleeping pills "stands fully falsified by the medical and other evidences on record which in itself is an additional link connecting the accused to the commission of offence".

"Accordingly, accused is held guilty for committing murder of his wife Anju Ilyasi and convicted under section 302 of the IPC," the court said.