Bombay High Court Commutes Life Sentence to Ten Years in Prison after Husband Kills Wife for Burning Meat Curry
The Bombay High Court commuted a life sentence to ten years in prison after the husband killed wife for burning meat curry.
Background
The crime is registered on the basis of a report lodged by one Sunil Shendre on allegations that deceased Chhaya was residing along with her husband i.e. the appellant and daughter Kajal in his neighborhood.
The accused is in the habit of drinking liquor and used to beat his wife for trifle reasons.
One day when the informant was sleeping in his house, he heard the accused abusing his wife and, therefore, he came out of his house.
It is alleged that he saw that the accused was quarreling with his wife and started assaulting her by kick and fist blows on the count that she had not cooked meat properly and she burnt it. It is further alleged that when the informant went there, the accused threatened him that if he intervenes in the quarrel, he will kill him.
Due to the threat, the informant left along with the accused’s daughter Kajal. At about 11:30 p.m he saw that the wife of the accused was lying dead in the shed and, therefore, he approached police and lodged the report.
Arguments
Advocate S.G. Joshi, appearing for the appellant, submitted that to prove the homicidal death the prosecution examined Medical Officer Dr. Sanjaykumar Diwakarrao Shivankar. Though the Medical Officer has denied the possibility of sustaining injuries due to the fall due to stroke by Epilepsy, the oral evidence shows that the deceased was suffering from Epilepsy and on the day of the incident also due to Stroke of Epilepsy she fell on the ground and sustained injuries.
Additional Public Prosecutor M.J. Khan for the State, submitted that the deceased is the wife of the accused. The accused had committed her murder by assaulting her repeatedly and due to the repeated blows the deceased had sustained in all six injuries as well as internal injuries which resulted into her death.
Decision
The division bench of Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Justice Rohit B. Deo noted that the quarrel took place for the simple reason that the deceased had not prepared the meat properly and the accused lost his self control and gave a blow of stick on the person of the deceased.
The bench observed that the appellant had knowledge that injuries could cause death of the deceased. There was an intention on the part of the accused to cause injuries. However, the accused had not taken undue advantage or had not acted in a cruel or unusual manner.
It was held by the court that the act of the accused would cover under exception 4 of Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code and, therefore, the case of the accused would cover under Section 304 Part-I of the Indian Penal Code.
It was further held that the appellant need not undergo imprisonment for life and his sentence can be modified by ordering that he shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for ten years.
Case title: Suresh Madhukar Shendre v/s State of Maharashtra
Citation: Criminal appeal no.347 of 2019
Date: 06.12.2022
