Relying upon a dying declaration of the woman, the Bombay High Court has upheld the life sentence awarded by a sessions court to a 40-year-old man who killed his paramour by setting her afire in her house in suburban Kandivali in 2002.
A bench of justices Anuja Prabhudessai and P V Hardas upheld the lower court's order which convicted Shivaji Maruti Garadkar alias Shiva Garadkar for setting ablaze Geeta following an argument on some issue.
"According to us, the dying declaration (recorded by the doctor) clearly implicate the appellant. The offence is clearly proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt. The appeal therefore needs no interference of this court and is dismissed," observed the judges last week.
In her dying declaration, Geeta had clearly stated that she was set ablaze by the appellant (Shiva) after dousing her with kerosene at her house, the bench noted.
The doctor said that on October 31, 2002, he admitted Geeta in Bhagwati hospital. She later died of 40 per cent burns.
"The finding of the stove and the match box in the house of Geeta plus the presence of the appellant in the house minutes before Geeta was seen engulfed in flames, lend assurance to the dying declaration recorded by the prosecution witness (doctor)," the bench observed.
According to prosecution, Shiva some times used to reside with Geeta in her house.
It said on the day of the incident, there was a quarrel between the duo. In the evening, the victim was sleeping in the house when her mother noticed smoke coming from the room and rushed there to find her daughter engulfed by flames. She poured water on Geeta and extinguished the flames. The victim was rushed to hospital where she died, the prosecution said.
