NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has convicted a man for the offences of murder and dowry death, saying that “misplaced leniency” in the case would result in a “miscarriage of justice”. The court was hearing a case against Amarjeet, who was accused of strangling his wife on October 5, 2017. According to the prosecution, the accused married the victim in December 2012 and thereafter continuously harassed her for dowry. “The prosecution has been successful to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt against accused Amarjeet for the offences punishable under Section 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) 304-B (dowry death) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code,” Additional Sessions Judge Viplav Dabass said in a recent judgment. Accordingly, the accused is convicted for the offences, the judge added. The court has posted the matter for hearing arguments on sentencing in the case on January 2. “All the circumstances irresistibly point towards the accused being guilty… and all the circumstances cumulatively form a complete chain indicating that the crime has been committed by the accused,” the court said. It said the chain of circumstantial evidence is complete and all the facts and circumstances of the matter unerringly lead to the inference that the victim had died a homicidal death. Noting the evidence and testimonies of witnesses, the court said it was established that the deceased was continuously subjected to harassment for dowry and she died in abnormal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty by her husband. “She (Mamta Devi) was not only subjected to physical cruelty but mental cruelty as well and she was meted with cruelty and harassment on the ground that she had brought insufficient dowry,” the court said. It also said the prosecution had proved that Amarjeet had deliberately, but not willingly, brought the victim to the city with the intention to kill her as he was no more liking her company. “The unfulfilled demands of dowry provided the motive to the accused to eliminate the victim who admittedly died in unnatural circumstances,” the court said. Rejecting Amarjeet’s arguments that he was falsely implicated in the case, the court said there were only minor defects, discrepancies and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case. “Immaterial and irrelevant lacunas in the investigation would not entitle an accused to benefit of doubt and a misplaced leniency would result in the miscarriage of justice, especially in cases like the present one,” the court said. The court also said the circumstances were sufficient to conclude that Amarjeet had killed his wife by pressing her neck and later on concocted a false story to create a plea of alibi. Kapashera police station had registered an FIR against Amarjeet under the relevant provisions of the IPC.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-court-convicts-man-for-killing-wife-for-dowry/articleshow/96575177.cms