Three sentenced to life imprisonment for killing builder’s wife in 2012
According to the prosecution case, one of the convicts, Ashok Purohit, along with his two associates— Mahendrasingh Rathod and Hemant Menariya—killed Chetna Ajmera, 51, wife of developer Jayant Ajmera, on May 7, 2012
MUMBAI: The sessions court on Monday sentenced three men to life imprisonment for killing the wife of a city-based builder in May 2012.
According to the prosecution case, one of the convicts, Ashok Purohit, along with his two associates— Mahendrasingh Rathod and Hemant Menariya—killed Chetna Ajmera, 51, wife of developer Jayant Ajmera, on May 7, 2012 when no one else was at home and fled the city with cash and jewellery worth ₹1.40 crore from the house.
Purohit had worked as a cook with the developer’s family from January to March 2012. However, he was removed from the job due to some altercations over pay and the developer had hired Rathod as their new cook.
During the probe, the witnesses had told the police that they had seen Purohit and Rathod together a few days before the murder.
Also, the police had claimed that the two were missing since the day of the murder and some witnesses had seen three people leaving the building in a suspicious manner. This led the police to suspect that the two cooks were involved in the robbery and murder.
Rathod was arrested on September 7, 2012. Menariya was arrested on March 3, 2013, while Purohit was apprehended on March 14, 2013.
The police had also arrested a Rajasthan-based jeweller, Shamlal Soni, for buying the stolen jewellery from Rathod. Soni was later discharged from the case.
Chief public prosecutor Jaisingh Desai had examined a total of 37 witnesses to prove the case. Desai said the case was primarily based on circumstantial evidence and the fact that the stolen jewellery was recovered from the three accused in bits and pieces. The prosecution argued that the accused failed to explain their presence in the building at the relevant time and possession of the jewellery, which belonged to Chetna Ajmera.
The husband of the victim, who deposed before the court in July 2015, had said that on May 7, 2012, he and his wife completed their respective morning routines before he left for a site inspection at Bhakti Park around 1pm. He said two labourers were present in the house when he left for work. The workers were sent by his brother-in-law to fix the windows of their flat.
The developer said when he returned home at around 8pm, he rang the doorbell, but no one responded. He opened the door using spare keys and found his wife lying in a pool of blood in their hall. He then informed the police and shifted Chetna Ajmera to a hospital, where she was declared brought dead.
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