Husband gets 10 years in jail 19 years after dowry death in Mumbai

Nineteen years after a woman was found charred in her house, the Bombay high court has said it is a case of dowry death and found her husband guilty. He has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Earlier this week, the court allowed the appeal filed by the state government seeking the enhancement of the punishment handed out to Thane resident Baban Kulvade who was let off with a one-year jail sentence by a trial court.

Kulvade’s wife Sulochana’s burnt body was found in their Thane home on June 20, 1991. Police had registered a case of accidental death, as nobody was at home when her body was found.

Kulvade and Shantibai Kshatriya, the owner of the house where the victim stayed, were arrested. As per the post-mortem report, Sulochana was gagged and was suffocated to death. Her body, the report said, was set on fire after she died.

Since, there was no evidence indicating either Kulvade’s or Kshatriya’s involvement in the crime, they were let off on a lighter charge — causing mental anguish to Sulochana — and were given a year’s jail term.

In its appeal, the state government contended that Kulvade had asked Sulochana to bring Rs20,000 from her father to buy a house. But she could not arrange for the money. Sulochana stayed mostly with her parents and spent only about a month with her husband who said she could not stay with him because there were not enough arrangements at his house, and he had no utensils.

The prosecution argued that Sulochana had returned to her husband’s house just six days before her death and Kulvade had not even informed her family of her death. It also said Kulvade had an illicit relationship with Kshatriya and he therefore wanted to kill Sulochana.

The high court said it was not proved beyond doubt that Kulvade or Kshatriya killed Sulochana, but the husband could certainly be held guilty under section 304B (dowry death).

“A judge does not preside over a criminal trial merely to see that no innocent man is punished. A judge also presides to see that a guilty man does not escape,” justices BH Marlapalle and Mridula Bhatkar said in their judgment.

They held that the circumstances were enough to prove that Sulochana’s was a dowry death, and convicted Kulvade. Kshatriya was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for aiding in concealing the evidence.