A policeman was today sentenced by a local court to three years' rigorous imprisonment for torturing his pregnant wife, also a police constable, who succumbed to her burn injuries in 2012.
However, the court did not convict him for his wife's murder due to lack of sufficient evidence.
Thane Additional Sessions Judge V V Bambarde convicted Sriram Balasaheb Hivre (26), a police constable attached to Thane Nagar police station. For harassing his wife mentally and physically. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 on him.
Additional Public Prosecutor Bhuleshwar Hinge said the convict married Archana (23), a police constable attached to Local Arms division in Mumbai, in June 2012.
On December 19, 2012 the victim died at her matrimonial house in Kalwa in the district after receiving hundred per cent burn injuries. The convict was present when the incident took place.
Based on a complaint of harassment and torture filed by the victim's brother Abhijeet Mothe, also a policeman, the Hivre was charged with the offences and tried in a court. At the time of the incident, the victim was pregnant.
The prosecution sought conviction of Hivre for murder charge. However, based on the available evidence, the court convicted him under section 498 A IPC (cruelty) but did not convict him for murder.
The 45-year-old mother of the convict, a resident of Sangli, who was also tried in the case, was also acquitted by the court for want of sufficient evidence.
