Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 3: In a landmark judgement, 1st Additional Sessions Judge Jammu, Y P Bourney today awarded death sentence to one Rakesh Kumar, resident of village Banota, R S Pura for burning pregnant wife Neena Devi after sprinkling petrol.
According to the prosecution case, on March 14, 2007 Neena Devi was admitted in GMC Jammu with severe burn injuries. On receipt of this information, SHO Police Station R S Pura deputed Head Constable Mohd Afzal for recording her statement.
Neena Devi in her statement disclosed that she got married with the accused about one and half years back and out of their wedlock a male child was born. Shortly after their marriage accused started harassing her for not having brought adequate dowry and also used to beat her.
On March 14, 2007 she had an argument with her husband. Thereafter accused dragged her by putting a dupatta around her neck and then set her ablaze by sprinkling petrol. Her father-in-law and aunt-in-law extinguished the fire and shifted her to hospital, whereas accused fled away from the spot.
After a full-fledged trial, Court held accused guilty of unnatural death of young bride Neena Devi, who succumbed to injuries due to 91% burn injuries.
After hearing APP Harpal Singh for the State whereas Advocate B S Sudan for accused, 1st Additional Sessions Judge Jammu, Y P Bourney observed, “it is a case of unnatural death of a young bride and the prosecution case is based upon the dying declaration of the deceased recorded immediately before her death and the other circumstantial evidence under which she is shown to have sustained the extensive burns up to 91%”.
“Crime has been committed in a most brutal, barbaric and ghastly manner and it appears to be pre-planned as petrol is not a house hold commodity commonly stored and used in the houses more particularly when there are many petrol pumps in the vicinity”, the Court said, adding “it is not only a case of murder of one person but also the squeezing of another life of a baby in the womb of the mother. Moreover the crime has been perpetrated for the single reason of the inability of wife to meet the illegal demands of dowry”.
“Cases of such nature arouse intense and extreme indignation of the society and the collective conscious of the society is so shocked that it expects the holders of judicial power to inflict extreme penalty as such crimes are so outrageous that society insist on adequate punishment because the wrong doer deserves it irrespective of whether it is deterrent or not”, the Court further said, adding “the offender no doubt is a young man of about 30 years who has no previous criminal history. However, the manner in which the crime has been committed by him against his young and pregnant bride of less than two years whom he took vows to maintain and protect before the holy fire at the time of marriage, brings it within the rarest of the rare cases so as to warrant the extreme penalty”.
With these observations, court sentenced the accused to death for the commission of offence under Section 302 RPC. Court further directed that he should be hanged by neck till he is dead.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel