Patna, Aug 13 - The widow of slain Bihar minister Brij Bihari Prasad Thursday demanded that the eight people sentenced to life imprisonment for his murder be sent to the gallows. The eight include a former MP and two state legislators.

'They should have been hanged for the heinous crime. They deserve no less punishment than a death sentence,' Rama Devi, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Sheohar, told reporters here.

On Wednesday, a city court had sentenced eight people, including former MP Surajbhan Singh and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) legislator Munna Shukla, to life imprisonment for the 1998 murder.

Another JD-U legislator, Shashi Kumar Rai, also convicted for his involvement in the crime, was given two years' imprisonment.

Reacting to the judgement, Rama Devi said: 'We expected that the court would give capital punishment to them to send a message to society.