Murdered Her Only Because She Was Strong Protestor: Allahabad HC Upholds Conviction Of Deceased Woman’s Husband & His Lover
The Allahabad High Court has upheld the conviction of the deceased woman’s husband and his lover saying that they murdered her by setting her on fire only because she was a strong protestor of their illicit relationship.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Kaushal Jayendra Thaker and Justice Shiv Shanker Prasad observed, “… we find that the finding of the Court below with regard to accused-appellants Jaikishan @ Bablu and Anita is correct and the guilt of both the accused-appellants have been proved beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution, which is sustainable in the eyes of law. Such accused-appellants, who committed heinous crime in murdering the deceased Rekha by pouring kerosene oil on her and setting her on fire only because she was strong protester of their illicit relationship, are not entitled to any leniency from us. Such persons, who are black spot in the society, cannot be set at liberty.”
The Bench said that the accused had a strong motive to kill the deceased and that the autopsy report of the body of the deceased as well as statements of the Autopsy Surgeon support the prosecution’s version.
Advocate Mohammad Arshad appeared on behalf of the accused while Advocate Sunil Kumar Dubey appeared on behalf of the State.
Brief Facts -
A batch of two appeals was filed against the judgment passed by the Additional Sessions Judge whereby the accused i.e., the appellants were convicted for an offence under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 10,000/-. In this case, the appellant had married the deceased about 14 years ago and some time ago, he started establishing an illicit relationship with another woman.
The deceased used to repeatedly object her husband for having illicit relations with the other woman and on that objection, he used to beat her time and again. Thereafter, one night as per the conspiracy, both the accused i.e., the husband and his lover poured kerosene on the deceased and set her on fire due to which she died.
The High Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case noted, “On deeper scrutiny and evaluation of the evidence led during the course of trial, we are of the in full agreement with the findings recorded by the trial court in holding the accused appellants Jaikishan @ Bablu and Anita guilty for the offence under Section 302 I.P.C. We also agree with the findings recorded by the trial court that since the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the accused Kuber Dutt under Section 120-B I.P.C. beyond reasonable doubt, he should be given benefit of doubt.”
Accordingly, the Court dismissed the appeals and upheld the conviction of the appellants.
Cause Title- Jai Kishan @ Bablu v. State of U.P. (Neutral Citation: 2023:AHC:118841-DB)
