Bengauluru, Sep 05: The Karnataka High Courtin a case State of Karnataka Vs Abdul Sharief @ Ameer Jan has sentenced a 63-year-old retired Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus driver to life imprisonment for killing six persons by setting their house on fire after pouring petrol through a window.
A Division Bench of Justice H P Sandesh and Justice B Pramod passed the order, overturning the accused’s acquittal by the trial court and convicting him for the 2013 incident.
The incident occurred around 3 AM on April 12, 2013, when a doctor and seven of his family members were sleeping inside a house in Mysuru.
The prosecution alleged that the accused, Abdul Sharief, poured petrol through a window and set the house ablaze with a matchstick before fleeing.
Six people died. The crime was committed allegedly owing to resentment harboured by Sharief against the doctor to whom he allegedly owed money for medical treatment.
The doctor's daughter, who survived the fire, also alleged that Sharief had earlier asked the doctor to give him slow poison to kill his first wife.
The doctor's refusal to do so also allegedly deepened Sharief's resentment toward him. This allegedly prompted Sharief to set the doctor's house on fire, leading to the death of six.
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