"My husband has committed a heinous crime and he should be punished as soon as possible. He should be hanged to death," said 28-year-old Sarika Salve, the wife of Sunil Suresh alias Pappu Salve (32) who was arrested two days ago for kidnapping, raping and then murdering a nine-year-old girl in Shirdi town of Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district on December 28 last year.

Salve has been remanded in police custody till January 17 in connection with the case.

"I am ashamed of my husband," the woman, who has two daughters herself, said yesterday.

"My husband used to beat me. Fed up with the violence, I attempted suicide sometime back by consuming poison and was admitted to a hospital for a long time. But, he (Salve) never turned up to meet me," she said.

"If required, I am ready to depose against him in court," she added.

Earlier, Salve was arrested in 2003 for raping and murdering a minor girl in Sinnar area of Nashik district.

Later, Nashik Sessions Court had awarded death sentence to him in the case. But he had appealed in the Bombay High Court against the sentence and was acquitted in the case, police sources had said.

However, he was serving two jail terms – 10-year and 7-year rigorous imprisonment each - for cases of rape and murder against him lodged in Ambad and Nashik police stations in 2002, police said.

On account of his good behaviour, he was released from the Nashik road jail on May 28, 2012.

After release from jail, Salve kidnapped the nine-year-old girl from Shirdi and allegedly raped and murdered her on December 28, 2012.