Indian dentist convicted for killing husband

WASHINGTON, OCT. 25. An Indian Canadian dentist, convicted on charges of stabbing her husband to death, has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Alpna Patel (28) was convicted of manslaughter for killing her doctor husband, Viresh Patel, with a knife in a fit of rage in March this year. Prosecutors said Alpna stabbed her husband when he was asleep.

Alpna, dressed in a violet T-shirt and shackled at the legs, wept while maintaining before the Baltimore court that she killed Viresh in self-defence after a struggle in which he attacked her with the knife.

Her first trial ended in acquittal on charges of first and second degree murder. The manslaughter charge was revived when the jury deadlocked, with all women jurors holding her innocent and a lone male juror not agreeing to acquit her. The second trial resulted in her conviction for manslaughter - a lesser charge.

Alpna complained that her in-laws, who were staying in Buffalo, did not allow her to come to Baltimore and join her husband. She eventually left Buffalo without permission to meet her husband. The Defence Attorney, Mr. Edward Smith, said he would appeal against the verdict.

- PTI

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