Ghaziabad: An additional district and sessions court on Monday sentenced a man and his mother to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for abetting the suicide of his wife, who was eight months pregnant when she died.“It has been proven in the case that the deceased, Snehlata, died by suicide within seven years of marriage, while eight months pregnant, due to harassment by the accused, Vimala Tripathi and her son Mohit Tripathi; the court finds it justified to sentence the accused to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and a fine of Rs 2,000 under section 498A and for seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 each for the offence under section 306 IPC for abetting suicide,” judge Manish Nigam noted.The court acquitted them of the charges of murder and criminal conspiracy. Snehlata’s sister-in-law, Vishakha Shukla, was also acquitted.The case stems from an FIR registered in Sahibabad on April 1, 2021, on the complaint of Snehlata’s father, Indrajit Mishra. He told police that he had married his daughter to Mohit Tripathi, a resident of Shalimar Garden, on May 5, 2017. “Since the marriage, she was constantly harassed by her mother-in-law, father-in-law Shriprakash Tripathi, Mohit, and Vishakha. As a result of the continuous torture for dowry, my daughter died by suicide on March 31 at around 5pm,” he said. A case under Section 306 IPC was registered against the family members.Mohit was arrested on April 2, 2021. The chargesheet was amended to include sections 498A and 304B of IPC and sections 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act. The investigation continued against Vimala, Shriprakash and Vishakha. Shriprakash and Vimala were arrested on Oct 7 and Vishakha on Nov 19 that year.On June 17, 2022, the sessions court framed charges against Mohit, Vimala, Shriprakash and Vishakha under sections 498A and 304B, with alternative charges under sections 302/34 of IPC and Dowry Prohibition Act. The accused denied the charges and demanded a trial. The prosecution presented 11 witnesses, including family members, and the defence 12 in support of the accused’s innocence.The court observed that prosecution witnesses had established through their testimony that Snehlata was harassed. “While attending the deceased’s grandfather’s funeral, a quarrel broke out between Snehlata and Mohit, in which Mohit even assaulted Snehlata… when the deceased had her first child through a major operation, her stitches had become inflamed three times due to lack of family support. The defence has not refuted this fact, which indicates that the deceased’s in-laws were not taking proper care of her,” the court noted.“According to Section 113A of Indian Evidence Act, it is presumed that such suicide was instigated by the deceased’s husband or a relative of her husband. The onus now rests on the accused to present evidence to disprove this presumption,” the court said.“His primary responsibility should have been to try to save her. Instead, he called the deceased’s family. This demonstrates that the accused, the husband, had no concern for the deceased,” the court said.
