Accepting the dying declaration of a housewife, the Bombay High Court has confirmed the life imprisonment awarded to her 30-year-old husband for dousing her in kerosene and setting her ablaze.
According to the dying declaration given by the victim Savita Patil, her husband Hari, a farmer, used to dislike her as she was not highly educated. He had also asked for divorce as he wanted to marry someone else.
On July 27, 2007, the accused dragged his wife to the kitchen and poured kerosene from the stove on her and set her ablaze because of which she later died.
"Despite Savita having sustained 100 per cent burns, she was in a fit condition to give a statement. Savita's statement was recorded which was read over to her and she had admitted the contents to be correctly recorded.
"We, therefore, do not find any room to doubt the correctness of dying declaration of Savita," said a bench headed by Justice P V Hardas in a recent judgement.
"According to us, the dying declaration is a confidence inspiring piece of evidence and we do not notice any infirmity in its recording or in its contents to doubt the veracity of the dying declaration. This document, therefore, proves the offence against the appellant beyond reasonable doubt," said the bench.
On April 28, 2010, a sessions court at Karad, near Pune, had awarded life imprisonment to Hari Patil for killing his wife by setting her afire. Hari challenged his conviction by filing an appeal in the High Court.
