Relying on the testimony of two eyewitnesses, the Bombay High Court has confirmed the life imprisonment awarded to a 46-year-old man who assaulted his wife and threw her into a well thereby causing her death.
The eyewitnesses were the daughter and son of the convict who saw their father assaulting the mother and throwing her into a well on December 16, 2009 at village Chikhale in Palghar taluka of Thane district.
Both the children told the court that their father was a habitual drunkard and used to beat their mother very often.
Daughter Shraddha and son Satej said they had seen him throwing their mother into a well located in front of their house.
A bench headed by Justice Vijaya Tahilramani upheld the life sentence awarded to Pandhari Sukhdeo Mothe by a Palghar sessions court on July 20, 2011, saying the evidence tendered by the two children inspires confidence in the court to show that Pramila Mothe was killed by her husband.
The court also took into account the evidence given by the doctor in the post mortem report of the victim that she died due to asphyxia after drowning.
The other two witnesses were Gangubai and Chandrakant, mother-in-law and brother-in-law of the convict. Both stayed at two minutes walking distance from the house of the convict.
The duo too corroborated the version of the eyewitnesses that Pandhari killed his wife and that the former was a habitual drunkard and beat her often.
Four years prior to the incident, the appellant had caused injuries to his wife and mother-in-law. On account of this, he was prosecuted. Ultimately, the case was compounded.
About 15 days prior to the incident, Pandhari again assaulted Pramila and out of fear she came to her brother's house and took shelter there along with her two children. However, Chandrakant convinced his sister and sent her back home.
Confirming the lifer, the court observed "looking at the evidence on record, we find no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that it was the appellant who assaulted his wife and threw her in the well causing her death. We find no merit in the appeal," said the bench in its judgement on June 9.
The convict is serving sentence in Kolhapur Central Jail.
