Date:30/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/30/stories/2008063054120100.htm

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Life term for Indian-origin man in U.S.

Washington: A businessman of Indian origin in the U.S. has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for hiring hitmen to kill his son’s black wife as he was enraged at the inter-racial marriage.

Prosecution had sought the death penalty for Chiman Rai, 69, for paying two men $10,000 to kill Sparkle Michelle Rai, an African American, in April 2000, weeks after her marriage to his son Rajeev Rai, alias Ricky, with whom she had a daughter. The 22-year-old was found strangled and stabbed more than a dozen times at the couple’s apartment. Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before delivering the verdict in an Atlanta area courtroom in Georgia this week. — PTI