BENGALURU: Terming as completely absurd the contention of a murder accused that his act of killing a woman was ‘grave and sudden provocation’ for refusing to marry him, the Karnataka High Court declined to take a lenient view and confirmed a life sentence..
Upholding the judgment of the sessions court, a division bench of Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav and Justice P Krishna Bhat said the accused was trying to assert some kind of domain over the victim only because he was male and unwilling to reconcile to the situation that the woman could rebuff him and take a decision on the choice of her life partner.
The accused Vijendra, a native of Javalaga village in Aland of Kalaburagi district, had filed an appeal to set aside the conviction and sentence passed by the IV Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kalaburagi, on January 23, 2016.
Vijendra, a relative of Pushpa (18), had been pressurising her to marry him, and when she refused, he started resorting to abusive tactics. When her parents were away at hospital on April 27, 2009, he entered the house with a weapon and had threatened Pushpa, who was watching TV with her aunt. When she refused to marry him, he had stabbed her multiple times. She succumbed to injuries at a hospital a few days after the incident.
The bench noted that life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is an entitlement and a right without which there cannot be a ‘right to life’ for an individual, and shorn of the same, it will only be a creature existence. Thus, extending the protective umbrella of ‘grave and sudden’ provocation to the accused in this case will have effect of robbing the victim of her right to express her ‘choice”, the bench added, while dismissing the appeal.
“As rightly held by the sessions judge, there is not an iota of doubt about the dying declaration and Pushpa had voluntarily given the statement in a proper state of mind. Evidence clearly shows that immediately after the incident, the victim had narrated the same to her parents and they have also supported the prosecution case”, the bench said.
Video links for court hearings to be hosted
For the benefit of advocates and parties-in-person, Court hall-wise video conference link with passcode will be hosted on the website of the Karnataka High Court. According to a release, the link and password will be uploaded on the website at 9.30am every working day, with effect from Monday. The link will be sent via SMS to advocates registered on HC CIS software.