Mangaluru : The District and Sessions Court on Wednesday sentenced an accused to life imprisonment for murdering and robbing a woman of her jewellery at Heroor village near Brahmavar on December 20, 2010.

In a statement here, Shantha Bai, Public Prosecutor, said that the accused, Yogish (34), had opened a general store at Heroor village in 2009. He had taken several loans to run his store. But he faced losses in his business and also received a court notice to repay the loans.

It was then that Yogish noticed Sunanda Shetty who had put on her ornaments and was walking near his house. He also found out that Sunanda Shetty lived alone in her house and hatched a plan to murder her.

On December 20, 2010, at around 7.30 p.m., Sunanda Shetty, was cleaning her house. Yogish went from behind and strangled her to death. He then took away 120.60 grams of gold jewellery, which she was wearing. The value of the jewellery was estimated at Rs 1.8 lakh. A complaint was registered at Brahmavar police station. Yogish was later arrested and a chargesheet was filed.

After hearing the case, District and Sessions Judge T. Venkatesh Naik found Yogish guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment under Section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code, and to seven years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of Indian Penal Code and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him, the statement said.