Praveen Manwar (39), a alumni of IIT Kharagpur has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court in Multai on the charge of murder. According to the Betul Police report, he killed his wife Shilpa and two children when he set his car ablaze on March 3, 2015, because of fears of being HIV infected.
A senior official of the Betul Police station said, “After the investigation, we had charged Manwar under session 302 (Punishment for murder) and 201 (Punishment for causing the disappearance of evidence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code. Manwar had confessed to attempting a suicide pact with his wife and two children after he tested HIV positive at a local diagnostic center in Chattarpur, New Delhi.”
Manwar had also informed the police that he often visited prostitutes, following which he got symptoms of an HIV infection. “Manwar had a heated argument with his wife after he revealed the HIV test results. He alleges that his wife was also infected with HIV and hence they decided to commit suicide,” the senior official added.
However, after further investigations, the police found that Manwar was not infected HIV. Shilpa’s family members are not happy with the court’s verdict and want the death sentence for Manwar. Apart from being an IITian, Manwar also taught at NIT Surathkal, before taking his current job at National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)