PRAYAGRAJ, Nov. 19 -- Two decades after the killing of a 28-year-old married woman in Nawabganj area of Prayagraj, the additional sessions court sentenced seven of her in-laws to life imprisonment. Delivering the verdict, judge Mridula Mishra held that the crime committed by the accused was extremely grave and had the potential to send a wrong message to society if left unpunished. Those awarded life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.5,000 each included Suresh Kumar, Maan Singh, Santosh Kumar, Bhagdevrahi, Mathi, Kumari Rani Devi and Sant Lal. The court observed that the chain of circumstantial evidence was strong and clearly pointed towards murder. It noted that the in-laws attempted to tamper with evidence and failed to prove their claim that the victim, Anuradha, had died by suicide. The judgment was issued after hearing the arguments of the defence counsel and assistant public prosecutor (criminal) Akhilesh Singh Bisen, and carefully reviewing the case records. According to the complaint lodged by one Jeevan Lal on March 16, 2005, his 28-year-old sister-in-law Anuradha had taken her child to her aunt's home in Naini on March 1, 2005, for medical treatment. When she returned to her husband's home in Ghosiyana village, Nawabganj, the family allegedly accused her of misconduct and denied her entry. A village panchayat later cleared her of all allegations. However, on the night of March 15, the accused reportedly strangled her to death and then attempted to pass it off as a suicide by hanging her with a 'dhoti'. Proceedings against two other accused- Ram Kishore and Prithvipal- were closed as they died during the trial. The verdict brings closure to a 20-year-old case that had remained pending since the incident in March 2005....