A court in Kerala’s Kollam on Wednesday sentenced the man, found guilty of killing his wife using a cobra, to a double life term. Despite acknowledging it as the rarest of the rare cases, the court spared him the death sentence considering the husband’s age. The court said it will give a wrong message to people with such criminal minds.

Sooraj was convicted of murder by letting loose a cobra on his wife and forcing it to bite her while she was sleeping. The prosecution had sought capital punishment for him.

His 25-year-old wife Uthra was attacked by the snake at her home at the time she was already undergoing treatment for another snake bite she had suffered. While she had managed to recover from the first bite, she failed to survive the second.

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Parents of Uthra said they expected a death sentence for Sooraj and so they were disappointed. They revealed they have plans to move the Kerala high court for the death sentence. Her mother said to The Hindu, “”Such loopholes in the law has been creating criminals like Sooraj and we will definitely approach the High Court.”

This marked Sooraj’s second attempt at killing his wife. He had earlier tried to murder her in February last year with a viper. Both the snakes were procured through a snake handler Suresh.

The couple had tied the knot in March 2018 and they had an 18-month-old son when wife Uthra passed away. The child was then taken into the care of Uthra’s parents, reported The Quint.

Advocate G Mohanraj led prosecution had asked for the death penalty. “This case is very diabolic. He will serve his entire lifetime in jail. The court has also directed him to extend financial assistance to his child,” he told the local news channels.