Godman Shraddhananda sentenced to death

Self-proclaimed godman Swami Shraddhananda was on Saturday sentenced to death by a city court for murdering his wife Shakereh 14 years ago.

Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge B S Totad gave the sentence. The court said execution of the sentence shall not be carried out till it was confirmed by the high court.

The judge also directed jail officials to submit to the high court papers relating to the case.

The judge had on Friday convicted Shraddhananda for murdering Shakereh, capping a trial in a case that lasted more than a decade. Shraddhananda was the second husband of Shakereh, granddaughter of former "Diwan" of erstwhile Mysore state, Mirza Ismail, and ex-wife of Akbar Khaleeli, former Indian high commissioner to Australia.