HC upholds husband's conviction in 34-year-old dowry death case
Noting that the signs of the woman saving herself had not been found, Justice Rajnish Kumar passed the judgment on July 25. The high court dismissed the criminal appeal filed by the appellant Jai Shankar Shukla (the husband) of Unnao district against the verdict of the trial court, which had convicted him under Section 304-B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The court observed, 'Thus, considering the material also, which includes the recovery memo, in which no sign or material of sprinkling of seasoning (chhaunk lagana) for vegetables has been found, because the wok (karahi) and vegetables were found kept separately near the clay stove (chulha) and burn thatch. It is also noticed that signs of saving herself by the deceased has also not been found because if she would have caught fire during sprinkling seasoning for vegetables, then she would have cried and tried to save her and the family members present at home or the neighbours could have reached to save her.'
According to the prosecution, the appellant got married about a year prior to the date of the incident and dowry was given in the marriage. The woman's husband and mother-in-law had been demanding ₹5,000 two months prior to the incident, the prosecution added. During a visit to his daughter's house, the complainant told the husband and the mother-in-law that he was not in a position to give ₹5,000 upon which he was threatened and not allowed even to meet his daughter.
On June 11, 1991, the father was informed that his daughter had been burnt. In the FIR, the woman's father-in-law stated that his daughter-in-law had died due to burns sustained from a fire in the thatch when she was preparing food clad in a nylon saree. As per the post-mortem report, the death was caused by asphyxia and shock resulting from ante-mortem injuries.
In light of the fact that the presumption of dowry death had rightly been drawn and the same could not be rebutted by the appellant by any cogent evidence, the high court dismissed the appeal.
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