Man accused of killing wife let off by HC for want of proof

Giving the benefit of doubt, the Bombay High Court has acquitted a man charged with killing his wife over a decade ago.

Dattu Murlidhar Madhvai, a resident of Yeola in Nashik district, accused of assaulting his wife Kavita and throwing her into a well, was let off as the prosecution failed to prove its case against him. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court.

Machindra and Ramesh, both brothers of Dattu, were also acquitted of the charge of causing injuries to their sister-in-law leading to her death.

The duo was awarded seven years' rigorous imprisonment by the trial court under IPC Section 304-B, a dowry-related clause dealing with causing fatal injuries to a woman within seven years of her marriage.

"Upon careful consideration of the evidence, we find that the prosecution has utterly failed to prove the offence against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The appellants, therefore, in our opinion, are entitled to be given the benefit of doubt," said a Bench headed by Justice P V Hardas in a judgement delivered on April 1.

"In respect of the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC (murder), we find that there is absolutely no evidence that the accused had assaulted the deceased and thereafter thrown her in a well," the Bench said.

The evidence on record would certainly indicate that Kavita may have accidentally fallen in the well and may have died due to drowning, the Judges said.

The trial court had sentenced Kavita's husband to life imprisonment for murder and her brothers-in-law to seven years and three years RI on the twin charges of assaulting her and subjecting her to cruelty, respectively.

The prosecution's case was that the husband and in-laws of Kavita were cruel to her and forced her to bring Rs 50,000 from her parents to buy a tractor. The father of the victim had given Rs 10,000 as advance to the main accused and promised to pay the balance later. As Rs 40,000 was unpaid, Kavita was subjected to cruelty and later killed.

On August 29, 2003, Kavita was found missing and a police complaint was lodged by her father. The next day, her body was found floating in a well near her house.

"There is no evidence on record to indicate that the accused had subjected Kavita to ill-treatment. Apart from the witnesses merely stating that Kavita was ill-treated or harassed there is no other evidence which would conclusively establish the nature of ill-treatment," the Bench observed.

In the absence of precise evidence relating to cruelty, the conviction of the accused cannot be sustained on such omnibus evidence that for a demand for Rs 40,000 Kavita was ill-treated, the court noted.

Moreover, there is no evidence that soon before her death, Kavita was subjected to ill-treatment on account of demand for Rs 40,000, the Judges said. It was a case of accidental death. Kavita had died due to drowning because of accidental fall in the well, the Bench further opined.

"There was no evidence on record to even remotely indicate that either Kavita was killed by the accused or that Kavita had committed suicide. In the absence of this evidence, the conviction of the appellants for offences punishable under IPC Sections 302 and 304-B is not sustainable," it said.