Supreme Court awards lifer to Wife Murderer [Read Judgment]

Reversing the High Court order acquitting a man accused of murdering his wife by administering poison, the Supreme Court has restored the judgement of the trial court wherein and sentenced the accused to life imprisonment.

The Wife, a dental surgeon by profession had died in the year 2000 after 2 years of her marriage with the accused. The prosecution case was that the accused was of the habit of abusing, kicking and beating his wife and he murdered her by administering poison. Relying on the witnesses arrayed by the prosecution, the trial court convicted the accused for murder of his wife by means of forcible administration of organo phosphorus poison to the wife. On appeal the High Court acquitted him on the ground that the circumstances are not of conclusive nature and not complete so as to unerringly point to the guilt of the accused. The state preferred the appeal before the apex court.

The bench comprising of Justices V. Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra observed that the High Court has unnecessarily doubted the deposition of the autopsy surgeon who has clearly opined that the nature of injuries indicated positively the administration of poison forcibly to the victim. The bench said “Such injuries could be caused while administering poison forcibly when victim was trying to save herself from that. In the cross-examination the surgeon has also stated that it could not be a suicidal case. However, on a suggestion being made to the surgeon and other witness that it could be a case of voluntary consumption of poison by the victim to commit suicide, obviously the doctors were not able to deny the said suggestion as they were not eye witnesses. Moreover they were not supposed to be an arbiter on this issue whether the victim had taken the poison herself. Their objective opinion stands writ large that considering the nature of injuries it could be a case of forcible poisoning and in the process accused had caused injuries while deceased had struggled. Thus the approach of High Court cannot be said to be of objective assessment of evidence.”

Restoring the Trial Court judgment sentencing him to Life imprisonment, the Court said that there is no ground so as to show any leniency, particularly when the accused had not cared and caused death of his wife who was also a doctor and at the same time she was pregnant, carrying 8 months male child whose foetus was recovered from her womb.

Read the Judgment here.