Thane engineer gets 10-year rigorous imprisonment for dowry death of pregnant wife

A Thane court has sentenced a 38yearold mechanical engineer to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for the dowry death of his pregnant wife in 2021 observing that she had been subjected to physical violence and harassment over demands for money and a carAdditional Sessions Judge G T Pawar in a judgment delivered on Wednesday said injuries found on the womanrsquos body and the accusedrsquos failure to explain them corroborated witness accounts of assaultThe court convicted Indrajeet Jayrajrao Dawale under Sections 498A cruelty and 304B dowry death of the Indian Penal Code IPC and imposed a fine of Rs 15000 It also ruled that he was not entitled to the benefit of the Probation of Offenders ActPregnant woman found hanging at Thane homeThe victim Megha was also a mechanical engineer employed at a private firm She married Dawale on July 23 2017 Additional Public Prosecutor Manisha N Pawse told the courtOn June 27 2021 Megha who was between 14 and 16 weeks pregnant was allegedly found hanging at their flat on Kolshet Road in Thane She died on July 1 2021 the prosecution saidInjuries corroborate witnessesrsquo accounts of assaultThe judge noted that Megha had multiple contusions on both upper limbs and abrasions on her back and left cheek The injuries indicated that she had been subjected to physical violence shortly before the hanging the court observedThe medical findings provided objective corroboration of witnessesrsquo accounts that Dawale had assaulted her the judgment saidThe court also noted that the accused had failed to provide a credible explanation for the external antemortem injuries on Megharsquos body or the circumstances leading to the incidentCourt cites demand of Rs 75 lakh for carThe court observed that the accused had demanded Rs 75 lakh from Megha and her parents for purchasing a car and meeting propertyrelated liabilitiesDemanding Rs 750000 from the wife and her parents for purchasing a car and satisfying property liabilities while subjecting a pregnant woman to physical assault and emotional humiliation constitutes an unlawful demand for valuable security Even where a marriage begins as a love marriage subsequent greed and monetary harassment are not precluded it remarkedAccused made false claims after incidentThe court said the incident took place within the privacy of the matrimonial home and the accused was required to explain facts that were especially within his knowledgeIt also found that his conduct after the incident indicated an attempt to conceal the truth Dawale initially told Megharsquos father and another witness that she had fallen in the bathroomWhen her parents reached the hospital he allegedly prevented them from seeing her claiming that she had contracted COVID19 the court saidCourt rejects probation orders return of stridhanIn balancing mitigating and aggravating factors the court cannot overlook the nature of the crime the judge statedThe court observed that Megha was an educated woman who had faced sustained physical and mental harassment over money and a car during her pregnancy The multiple antemortem injuries demonstrated physical violence against her it saidThe court ordered that Megharsquos stridhan gold ornaments and other articles be returned to her mother after due verificationWith inputs from PTI