A vegetable vendor, who killed his wife as he did not like her complexion, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Delhi court on Wednesday.

An Additional Sessions Judge's court at Tis Hazari awarded the punishment to one Jitender for strangulating his wife Longi Devi 5 years ago.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1000 on the convict.

Jitender had married Longi Devi in March 1999. Her mother and their neighbour told the court that relations between the 2 got strained as the convict often fought with her saying that she was dark-complexioned and that he would have got a more beautiful wife if he had waited for some more time.

He also constantly harassed her as her parents did not fulfill his demand for a buffalo and a cycle. Things took a turn for the worse on the night of January 15, 2000, when after a serious argument, he strangulated her to death. He then put the body in a gunny bag and disposed it in a park some distance away from their house in Nangloi.

When the neighbours came enquiring about her the next day, Jitender told them that she had gone to her native place in Uttar Pradesh. But her body was found that night in a gunny bag which bore his name, following which he was arrested.