Jalpaiguri man gets death sentence for murdering wife, body disposed to destroy evidence

Gopal Das, a 30-year-old resident of Bhaktinagar, Jalpaiguri, was sentenced to death by the Jalpaiguri District Court for the murder of his wife, Lata Das, in 2019. Gopal, a pandal laborer, had suspicions about his wife’s fidelity, which led to frequent conflicts between them. On April 19, 2019, following an argument, Gopal physically assaulted Lata. In response, she left their home and went to her parental house.

That night, Gopal followed Lata to her parental home, where he committed the murder in the early hours of the following day. He smothered her with a pillow, bound her hands and feet with an electric wire, and stripped her. After killing Lata, Gopal disposed of her body by placing it in the safety tank at her in-laws' house. To further conceal his crime, he threw her clothes into a nearby well. The police later recovered Lata's body during their investigation.

The investigation revealed that Gopal had carefully planned the murder. He brought rope, bricks, and an electric wire to the scene with the intent to kill. The police also discovered that Gopal had gone to great lengths to destroy evidence, including dumping his wife’s body and clothing in separate locations. Gopal was charged under Sections 498(A) (cruelty), 201 (destruction of evidence), and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court examined 18 witness testimonies and other evidence before delivering its verdict. Judge Biplab Roy described the case as one of the "rarest of the rare," acknowledging the premeditated nature of the crime and the severity of the actions taken by the accused to conceal the murder. Based on the facts of the case and the deliberations, Gopal Das was sentenced to death.