'Inability To Explain Death Inside Matrimonial Home Crucial': Calcutta High Court Upholds Life Sentence For Husband In Wife's Murder

The Calcutta High Court's Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench has upheld the conviction and life sentence of a man found guilty of murdering his wife inside their matrimonial home, stressing that his complete failure to explain the circumstances of her death was a decisive factor in affirming guilt. The Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury noted that the incident occurred in the kitchen of the house at dawn, a place and time where the husband was admittedly present, thereby attracting the presumption under Section 106 of the Evidence Act.The Court found that the prosecution had successfully established every link in the chain of circumstances, especially through the consistent and unshaken testimony of the victim's daughters, P.W.1 and P.W.4, who rushed to the kitchen after hearing a commotion and saw the appellant fleeing through the window while their mother lay on the floor with severe bleeding injuries. Their evidence, the Judges observed, remained intact during cross-examination and was corroborated by neighbours who reached the spot moments later and found the victim lying in a pool of blood while the appellant was missing from the house.The Bench relied heavily on the Post Mortem findings, which recorded multiple sharp-cut injuries on the head and categorised the death as homicidal. The doctor confirmed that such injuries could be inflicted by a heavy sharp-cutting weapon such as an axe, which the Investigating Officer produced during trial as a material exhibit. The brutality of the injuries, the consistent medical opinion, and the timing and location of the assault collectively reinforced the prosecution's case.The Court also noted that the marital relationship between the parties was strained. Witnesses, including a Panchayat member, testified that the victim had complained of regular physical torture and had even expressed fear that her husband might one day kill her. This background of domestic discord provided additional context that supported the prosecution's narrative. The appellant, however, chose to give no explanation whatsoever when examined under Section 313 CrPC, despite the death occurring inside his household and in his presence.Rejecting the defence argument that the circumstantial evidence was incomplete and that the seizure of the axe was not properly proved, the Bench held that the facts of the present case were materially different from the precedent relied on by the appellant (Rasan Hansda). Here, the Court found a fully established chain of circumstances which unerringly pointed to the appellant's guilt. His unexplained conduct in fleeing the spot immediately after the assault further strengthened the inference against him.Concluding that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, the High Court affirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the trial court in 2019. The appeal was dismissed, and the sentence of life imprisonment was directed to run concurrently, with the period already undergone set off in accordance with law.Case: Mangru Ratia vs. The State of West BengalCase No: CRA 37 of 2021Click here to read order

'Inability To Explain Death Inside Matrimonial Home Crucial': Calcutta High Court Upholds Life Sentence For Husband In Wife's Murder

Srinjoy Das

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