AN AFFAIR, A SCANDAL THEN A MURDER


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Stories of crimes that are not considered normal often shock people and are remembered for a long time

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One such case is that of Murali Manohar Mishra, better known as Swami Shraddhananda, who is in jail for the murder of his wife

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The woman, Shakereh Khaleeli, was "rich and beautiful" and came from one of the most aristocratic families in Karnataka

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She was the granddaughter of Sir Mirza Ismail, who served as the Dewan of the princely states of Mysore, Bangalore, Jaipur and Hyderabad

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Ms Khaleeli abandoned her husband and four daughters to marry Shraddhananda, a self-proclaimed godman, who she met in 1982

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But in 1991, she went missing and Shraddhananda made up fantastic stories about her whereabouts

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Three years later, Ms Khaleeli's remains were dug out from the courtyard of their swanky home in Bengaluru

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She had been drugged, packed in a wooden casket and - it was later revealed - buried alive by her husband

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In 2003, a trial court convicted Shraddhananda for murder and gave him the death penalty, which the Supreme Court later confirmed

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The Supreme Court called it a case of "a man's vile greed coupled with devil's cunning" but commuted his sentence to life in prison

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According to the prosecution, Shraddhananda wanted to grab his wife's property worth crores of rupees

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In local media, Shraddhananda was described as a school dropout from a poor family and an "errand boy"

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He came close to Ms Khaleeli by exploiting her desire to have a son by claiming "magical powers"

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Shraddhananda told investigators and courts that he was innocent and was being treated badly, but all his claims were rejected

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He sought bail from Supreme Court in 2022, but his plea was rejected. Shraddhananda is lodged in Sagar Central Prison in MP

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Amazon Prime made a web series on the crime in 2023 named 'Dancing on the Grave'

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