Terming their actions "calculated, murderous assault" , the Delhi High Court (HC) has struck down the appeals challenging life imprisonment for a man, his two sons, and a daughter, for setting their relative's wife on fire because she was Hindu.
A bench of justices C Hari Shankar and SP Garg refused to grant any relief to the four accused and stated: "The present case being one of a calculated, murderous assault, by other members of the family of the husband, on his hapless wife, by overpowering her and setting her on fire, apparently fuelled only by religious hatred. We are of the view that the sentences awarded to the accused by the learned ASJ do not call for any interference at our hands. The appeals filed by the appellants are dismissed."
According to the dying declaration of victim Arti, her uncle-in-law Aslam and his children Ashraf, Sammi, and Huma were not happy with her marriage to their relative Javed as she was Hindu. Arti and Javed had been married for four years. They quarrelled with her on one pretext or the other and said she had humiliated them in society.
On October 16, 2010, the four picked up a fight with Arti and then poured kerosene on her and set her on fire. Her husband and in-laws were not at home at the time. She was taken to hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries.
On the basis of Arti's dying declaration and materials collected from the spot, an FIR was registered and a chargesheet was filed against Aslam, while the other three were declared proclaimed offenders.
Later, Ashraf and Sammi surrendered. After trial, the court sentenced all of them to life imprisonment. The accused challenged the order in HC on the grounds that the dying declaration was not recorded in question-answer form and hence could not be read as evidence. They also claimed that there was variance in dying declaration.
The court, however, did not agree to this contention and stated stating that the Supreme Court (SC), in one of the cases, had negated the demand for the dying declaration to be in question-answer form.
"The argument of the defence, that Arti's dying declaration ought to have been recorded in question-answer form, had been negated by the SC in Amar Singh Munna Singh Suryawanshi vs state of Maharashtra, AIR 2008 SC 479," the bench stated.
VICTIM'S VOICE
- According to the dying declaration of victim Arti, her uncle-in-law Aslam and his children Ashraf, Sammi, and Huma were not happy with her marriage to their relative Javed as she was Hindu.
- On October 16, 2010, the four picked up a fight with Arti and then poured kerosene on her and set her on fire
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Delhi High court")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}