Vadgaon Maval court passed the judgment on Aug 24
Police Statement Recorded in Hospital on January 25
On January 25, a woman provided a statement to police constable Ajay Darekar while at the hospital. The prosecution asserts that this statement was documented in her presence, included a doctor’s signature, and featured her toe impression. This statement serves as the foundation for the First Information Report (FIR) filed under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 498A (cruelty by husband or relatives) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Family members allegedly rushed to the spot after hearing her screams and extinguished the flames. She was first taken to a hospital in Kamshet and later shifted to Sassoon hospital.
Pune: A Vadgaon Maval court has acquitted a 40-year-old agriculturist accused of murdering his wife by setting her ablaze in 2019, holding that the prosecution failed to establish that the woman was physically and mentally fit to give the statement that formed the basis of the case. Additional sessions judge DK Anbhule passed the order on Aug 24, acquitting the man of charges under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 498A (cruelty by husband) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He had been in judicial custody since his arrest in Jan 2019. The accused’s wife (37) had alleged that her husband frequently cast aspersions on her character, assaulted her and drove her out of the house on several occasions, according to the prosecution’s case recorded in the judgment. The couple had two children, a daughter born in 2010 and a son born in 2013. However, the court noted that a medical opinion from Mahavir Hospital recorded that the woman had suffered 70-75% burns, was unconscious and not in a condition to give a statement.
The doctor before whom the statement at Sassoon hospital was allegedly recorded was not examined by the prosecution. The court held that the prosecution had failed to establish that the woman was physically and mentally capable of giving the statement. It also noted that several key witnesses, including her mother, brother, daughter, sister-in-law and mother-in-law, did not support the prosecution’s case. The court consequently held that the prosecution had failed to prove the accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt and acquitted him.