A court in Kerala on Friday awarded rigorous life imprisonment to a 32-year-old man who was found guilty of murdering his 52-year-old wife just two months after their wedding. The Additional Sessions Court at Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram district also slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh on Arun, a native of Athiyannur, who smothered and electrocuted his wife, Sakha Kumari, allegedly with the intention of grabbing her wealth. According to investigators, Arun had married the woman with an eye on her wealth. They said that she, however, wanted to give birth to a child who would inherit the wealth. Story continues below this ad The crime came to light in the early hours of December 26, 2020. According to the prosecution, Sakha Kumari, who was a wealthy woman, had not been interested in marriage until she fell in love with Arun – an electrician by profession who was 28 years old at the time of the crime. They got married in October 2020. Arun wanted the wedding, which took place as per Kumari’s Christian traditions, to be a low-key affair and insisted that photographs of the ceremony should not be shared anywhere. Public prosecutor Parasala A Ajikumar said Arun had demanded Rs 50 lakh and 100 sovereigns of gold for the wedding. Even before marriage, he had pocketed large sums of money from Kumari and bought an expensive car and two-wheeler using her money, the prosecution said. However, he did not agree to Kumari’s wish to have a child together. Story continues below this ad On the night of Christmas in 2020, the couple had a quarrel at Kumari’s house over her demand for a child. Enraged, Arun smothered Kumari using a cloth, the prosecution said. When she fell unconscious, he gave her an electric shock, leading to her death, according to the prosecution.