Doctor sentenced to 3 yrs imprisonment for abetting suicide

MUMBAI: A sessions court here on Friday convicted a doctor and sentenced him to three years imprisonment for abetting the suicide of a woman.

Additional sessions judge K U Chandiwal sentenced Dr Sadashiv Pawar for abettment to suicide u/s 306 and cheating u/s 417 of the Indian Penal Code and also fined him Rs 35,000.

Pawar, who resides at Vikhroli, a north eastern suburb of Mumbai, was intimate with his neighbour Archana Dholak for four years. When she became pregnant and her family came to know about their relationship, they asked Pawar to marry her.

Pawar, however, asked her to abort the child and promised to marry her after the medical procedure.

He later refused to marry her and Dholak became mentally disturbed after his rejection.

Her family sent her to her sister's house for a while to change the atmosphere and help her recover but Archana failed to get over the stigma.

When she returned, she poured kerosene and set herself to fire, leading to her death.

Prosecution lawyer Hitendra Dedhia had argued before the court that Dholak had given two dying declarations-one before a doctor and another before a special executive officer, which the court upheld.