New Delhi, Aug 3 - A city court Monday awarded life imprisonment to a man for killing his wife over her allegedly illicit relationship with another man.

Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Kumar held Suresh Chand guilty for his wife's murder and also imposed a fine of Rs.3,000 on him.

The court relied on the testimony of his two children, including a minor one, who claimed that there was a quarrel between their parents on the night of Aug 25-26, 2006, over the frequent visits of a man to their house.

Chand was arrested Aug 26 following a complaint lodged with the police by his son Deepak Kumar that his father had bludgeoned his mother to death.

The court, however, turned down the prosecution's claim that the case fell in the category of rarest of rare warranting death penalty. The court stressed that the victim was having extra marital relationship and was not ready to give it up despite the fact she had minor children and her family was unhappy with her.

The prosecution produced as many as 17 witnesses to prove its charges against the accused.