The husband who brutally murdered his wife with a hockey stick and then severed her head during lockdown has been jailed.
Kaushik Kumar Solanki, 55, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility for the April 2017 murder of his wife, Manisha, 49, at their house in Humberstone, Leicester.
After the incident, Solanki leaped from a cliff at Hunstanton, Norfolk, into the rocks below, where he suffered a severe head damage, broken arms and legs, and was found with his face’smashed’ by rescue personnel.
He blamed the Covid-19 lockdowns for his failing marriage to Manisha, since the pair was in the process of divorcing and the restrictions ‘worsened his mental health’
The corpse of Manisha was discovered in the utility room two hours after Solanki jumped from the cliff.
As she attempted to protect herself, she got a significant fracture on the right side of her head, as well as fractures on both wrists and forearms.
According to LeicestershireLive, police soon connected Manisha’s murder to the finding of a severely wounded Solanki on the Norfolk shore.
Gordon Aspen QC, prosecuting, said their marriage had started to crumble in 2016 and by the time of the murder a ‘truly toxic and acrimonious situation existed between them’.
Prior to the incident, Leicestershire Police had attended the couple’s residence on many times in response to accusations of domestic violence and even urged the pair to divorce.
Judge Timothy Spencer QC heard a list of sixteen reasons why the couple’s marriage was so difficult, such as their kids attending college and the start of lockdowns.
Kaushik’s defence included displaying a video of his wife beating and cursing at him in court, but the judge said that Kaushik’s behaviour in the video would have been altered by his knowledge that it would be revealed to the police.
Manisha worked with children with special education requirements at Leicester College, and Solanki drove handicapped individuals for Leicester City Council.
After the guilty plea, Detective Inspector Jenni Heggs from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) major crime team, said: ‘First and foremost, my thoughts are with friends and family of the Solankis at this very difficult time.
‘During our investigation, it was determined that Kaushik Solanki was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning which led to him taking his wife’s life. While I appreciate today’s outcome will not bring Manisha back, I hope it will provide a degree of closure and allow them to move on with their lives.’