Bundi (Raj): A court here has sentenced a 25-year-old man to life imprisonment for burning alive his wife.

District and Sessions Judge Ramesh Chandra Meena convicted Shankar Bheel (25), a mine labourer in Dhaneshawar area, of setting afire is wife Sugnabai (20) who later succumbed to burn injuries, Public Prosecutor Bhupendra Sahay Saxena said.

A penalty of Rs 2000 was also imposed on him.  The accused was booked under sections 302 (punishment for murder), 322 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) of the IPC in October 2012.

Bheel, an alcoholic, set his wife ablaze in his house by pouring kerosene over her and ran away on October 15, 2012, Saxena said.

Sugnabai was admitted by villagers to Maharao Bheem Singh (MBS) hospital, Kota where she succumbed to burn injuries three days later, he said.

In her dying declaration to the magistrate, Sugnabai had said that her husband beat her mercilessly and poured kerosene over her before setting her ablaze.