A Thane Court has awarded life imprisonment to a 29-year-old woman who worked at a bar & her paramour for killing her husband in 2017.
In his order issued on Monday, Additional Sessions Judge R R Vaishnav relied on the statement of the deceased's 6-year-old daughter, who had seen her mother & the latter's paramour commit the crime, & medical report in the case.
The Judge pronounced the woman & her 35-year-old paramour guilty under IPC Sections 302 (murder) & 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) & also imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 on each of them.
Another accused in the case was given the benefit of doubt & acquitted by the Court.
Additional Public Prosecutor Ujjwala Moholkar told the Court that on the intervening night of Oct 13-14, 2017, the 30-year-old victim was found hanging from the ceiling of his house in Kalwa town of Maharashtra's Thane district.
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An inquiry into the case revealed the victim didn't like his wife working in a bar & they used to have frequent fights over the issue.
Hence, the woman along with her paramour & his friend hatched a conspiracy & killed her husband. They then hung the body from the ceiling. The woman stayed at home while her paramour & his friend fled.
Later, the woman informed police that her husband had committed suicide, the prosecution told the Court.
The couple's minor daughter had witnessed the crime & she gave her statement to police about the murder & hanging. She also maintained her statement in Court.
The defence counsel argued that though the incident spot is located in a crowded area, the prosecution did not examine any independent witness, neighbour or landlord of the deceased, & the evidence of the child witness cannot be relied upon.
But, the judge referred to provisions of the Indian Evidence Act & said no particular number of witnesses shall, in any case, be required for the proof of any fact. "The evidence is to be weighed & not counted," he observed.
He said that "Thetestimony of a single witness is sufficient to establish any fact, if it inspires confidence".
So far as non-examination of independent witness is concerned, one has to consider the mentality of society.
Generally, no one wants to get involved in a matter pertaining to others, the Judge noted.
The accused cannot take advantage of non-examination of such independent witness, he said in the order.
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