New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has deniedbail to a woman accused of strangulating to death her husband,saying that the evidence in the case "clearly connects" her tothe offence.
Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal also took into account theseverity of the punishment prescribed -- maximum of deathsentence -- for the offence of murder under the IPC.
The court said that though the evidence wascircumstantial, there are several features of the case which"prima facie appear to go against the petitioner (wife)".
"The evidence led by the prosecution clearly connects thepetitioner with the offence. Therefore in light of the aboveand after careful scrutiny of other aforesaid facts andcircumstances of the present case and other factors includingseverity of the punishment prescribed in law, I find nosufficient ground to grant bail to the petitioner.
"Hence, the present bail application filed by thepetitioner is dismissed," the judge said.
The woman, who is in judicial custody since April 28,2016, had contended in her plea for regular bail that the caseagainst her was lodged by her father-in-law with the "obliquemotive" to oust her and her daughter from the share of herdeceased husband's properties.
She had also claimed that while her husband was over sixfeet tall and weighed more than 100 kg, she was skinny andtherefore, it was "highly improbable" that she could haveoverpowered him.
Her husband's death on the intervening night of April 16-17, 2016, was suicidal as he was under tremendous stress andtension due to constant threats by his father of disowninghim, the woman had claimed.
She had further claimed that no specific allegations havebeen levelled against her except vague accusations by herfather-in-law that there were disputes between her and herhusband and the FIR was lodged "after due deliberations andmanipulation by the police".
The woman had also accused her father-in-law and thepolice of conniving with each other.
She contended that the observations and findings in thepost mortem report were inconsistent with the MLC report withregard to the injuries and ligature marks found on the body.
The police had contended that it was not a suicide, butmurder as the victim was strangled by a nylon rope and on thenight of the incident, only the couple and their minordaughter was at home.
After hearing both sides, the court said, "In the presentcase, as only the petitioner was present at the place ofincident along with her minor daughter, the onus would lieupon her to disprove the allegations levelled against her inthe complaint." PTI HMP SKV ZMNNSD.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.