• The accused had admitted to killing his wife as she was 10 years older than him

Pokhara, June 9

Som Bahadur Sunar of Kaski, Rupakot, who had been remanded to judicial custody after he confessed to killing his wife two years ago, was freed by the district court yesterday.

A temporary resident of then Pokhara sub-metropolis-4, the 32-year-old was arrested on March 14, 2015 over his alleged role in the murder of his wife Laxmi Adhikari.

Police on April 8 the same year had filed a case against Som Bahadur at the district court. A single bench of then district court Judge Ram Prasad Oli had heard the case and then remanded the defendant to judicial custody as the defendant pleaded guilty in his statement to the police.

However, Judge Narishwor Bhandari acquitted him of the charge yesterday. The court, in its order, said it was unfair to punish anyone without concrete evidence to incriminate him/her.

Earlier, Som Bahadur, had admitted that he had killed his better half as she was older than him. He had said that he pushed her from the roof of their rented apartment.

“As she was 10 years older than me, I felt she was not a good match for me. I asked her to divorce me, but she refused,” Som Bahadur said in his statement.

The defendant, however, changed his statement yesterday, leading the judge to rule his acquittal. Laxmi and Som Bahadur, who had long been in love, had tied the knot about 12 years ago against the will of their parents. Police investigation showed that they weren’t on good terms in the later years of their marriage.

Though Som Bahadur had desperately wanted a divorce, Laxmi, who was the mother of two girls aged eight years and five years, is said to have refused.