Srinagar, Dec. 31 -- The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has reduced the sentence of 70-year-old Shameema Begum to the period already served, nearly five decades after the case began. Begum was convicted in 2009 under Section 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code for striking her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law with an axe during a domestic quarrel in Uri in 1979. The incident was deemed unplanned and "in the heat of the moment."Justice Sanjay Parihar, hearing a 16-year-old appeal, highlighted the systemic delay in criminal case disposal and noted Begum's advanced age, frail health, and remote residence. The court emphasized the constitutional right to a speedy trial under Article 21 and st...