'Snakebite' murder: UP court cites Manusmriti while pronouncing death sentence

MEERUT: A local court in Meerut on Friday sentenced a woman and her lover to death for murdering her husband and attempting to pass it off as a snakebite death, citing the Manusmriti and its assertion that "fear of punishment keeps society under control".The court also invoked the mythological figure Savitri, who bargained with Yama to save her husband's life, observing that a wife is considered her husband's better half, government counsel Farzana Maqsood said.Additional district and sessions judge Jaiveer Singh Nagar opened the 131-page judgment with a verse from the Manusmriti on a ruler's duties and the importance of maintaining order in society.Explaining the original verse, the judgment stated: "Fear of punishment keeps society under control.