Mangaluru: The First Additional District and Sessions Court on Friday sentenced a 26-year-old youth to rigorous imprisonment for life on finding him guilty of murdering another man, who refused to pay him after having sex with him.

Judge B.K Naik sentenced life imprisonment for Rajesh (26), of Kunjathbail, for the murder of Sundara Poojary in a secluded area off the Old Kent Road in the city on January 20, 2012.

According to the charge sheet by the Mangaluru South Police, Rajesh met Sundara Poojary in the city market and after a while, the two men headed towards a secluded government land near Dhobi Ghat. Rajesh murdered Sundara Poojary, after the latter refused to pay Rs. 100 as promised, after having sex. In a fit of anger, Rajesh hit Sundara and strangulated him before throwing him into an abandoned well, the reports states.

Principal Public Prosecutor, Pushparaj K. Adhyantaya examined as many as 26 witnesses including a railway contract employee who had seen Rajesh and Sundara Poojary going to the plot together on January 20 and Rajesh returning alone an hour later. The prosecutor also examined a doctor who certified that Rajesh was involved in sodomy with Sundara Poojary and other men.

The Court charged Rajesh under Section 377 of IPC and sentenced Rajesh to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed Rs. 2,000 fine.