Thane court acquits man in wife’s murder case, cites doubts over dying declaration

Representational image. File pic

A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 29-year-old man accused of murdering his wife in 2014, observing that the prosecution's case relied heavily on an uncorroborated dying declaration and that there was a significant delay in filing the complaint.

Additional Sessions Judge V L Bhosale acquitted Sanjay Jogeshwar Yadav of charges including murder, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation in connection with the death of his wife, Rama.

The court's order was passed on August 27 and was made available on Monday.

Woman died of burn injuries

According to the prosecution, Yadav had allegedly confined, starved and assaulted his wife before pouring kerosene on her on April 26, 2014.

Rama suffered burns covering around 49 per cent of her body and remained hospitalised before she died on May 11, 2014.

The prosecution relied on an alleged dying declaration made by Rama to her mother, in which she was said to have implicated her husband.

However, the court questioned the reliability of the statement, particularly because the victim's mother did not approach the police for 15 days while Rama was still alive and receiving treatment.

Court questions delay in complaint

The judge noted that the mother's failure to lodge a complaint during the period when Rama was alive weakened the prosecution's reliance on the alleged dying declaration.

The court observed that the witness's admission during cross-examination that she had not made any complaint while Rama was alive was a circumstance that cast serious doubt on the credibility of the declaration.

The victim's elder sister also told the court that she could not recall whether Rama had said that a stove had burst or that her husband had set her on fire.

Medical evidence also considered

The court also examined the medical evidence presented during the trial.

The medical officer reportedly admitted during cross-examination that injuries of a similar nature could also occur in an accident.

The judge further observed that the absence of burns on the victim's head and scalp was more consistent with a ground-level accidental fire, such as one caused by a stove burst, than the prosecution's allegation that she had been deliberately set on fire.

Considering the inconsistencies in the prosecution evidence, the delay in filing the complaint and the lack of corroboration for the alleged dying declaration, the court acquitted Yadav of all the charges.

The acquittal brings to an end the criminal proceedings arising from Rama's death, though the judgment underscores the importance of corroborative evidence when a dying declaration forms a central part of a prosecution case.

(With inputs from PTI)