Thane court sentences 33-year-old man to 5 years RI for wife's death after assault

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A court in Maharashtra's Thane district sentenced a man to five years of rigorous imprisonment for beating his wife and causing her death, reported news agency PTI.

Additional Sessions Judge Dr Rachna R Tehra found Bikas Vishwanath Yadav (33) guilty of charges under section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code based on his minor daughter's deposition, reported PTI.

The accused was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 was imposed on him. A copy of the detailed order dated September 12 was made available on Tuesday, reported PTI.

According to PTI, additional public prosecutor Sandhya Mhatre told the court that the accused and his wife Rani Raj Chavan were residents of Shilphata in Thane district.

On September 29, 2017, the accused beat his wife with a plastic pipe and banged her head against a wall, due to which she sustained severe injuries and died in treatment at a hospital, the prosecutor said, submitting that the accused should be convicted of murder.

The court noted that the couple's daughter, who was seven years old at the time of the incident, had witnessed the attack and her evidence needed to be scrutinised carefully.

The girl in her deposition had stated that her father had quarrelled with her mother and assaulted her with a pipe, rendering her unconscious with a head injury, the court said, reported PTI.

The girl has stood as firm as the "Rock of Gibraltar", it said.

There is voluntary evidence establishing a link between the seized pipe and injuries sustained by the deceased, the court observed while convicting the accused, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, a court in Maharashtra's Thane district acquitted five persons accused of attacking and killing a man at a village in Bhiwandi taluka, reported PTI.

Additional sessions judge P M Gupta in his order held that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the alleged accused who were residents of Payegaon village. The copy of the order dated October 3 was made available on Sunday, reported PTI.

According to the prosecution, the alleged accused had attacked the victim Sadanand Devlikar with iron rods and knives around 7 am on July 9, 2011. The victim sustained severe injuries and was declared dead at a hospital.

The judge in his order rejected the deposition of the victim's widow citing that it was not trustworthy.

He noted that the crime was reported to the police nearly two hours after it occurred, though the informant and other prosecution witnesses had mobile phones and had contacted each other to pass on information about the incident.

There was no immediate motive for the accused persons to commit the crime, the court held while acquitting them.

(With inputs from PTI)