HC sets aside convictions in ‘torture and poisoning’ case
Kolkata: In a case where a daughter-in-law was allegedly tortured and poisoned to death, the Calcutta High Court set aside a trial court order and sentence against three persons relating to charges under cruelty against married woman and abetment of suicide.
Observing that issues which flare up in day-to-day household affairs cannot make any person responsible within the meaning of Section 498A of IPC (cruelty against married woman), the Bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh set aside the trial court order and sentence of two years rigorous imprisonment against the deceased’s sister-in law and her husband for offence under the said section.
The court also set aside the order and sentence of rigorous imprisonment against the deceased’ mother-in-law for offence under Section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide) but did not interfere with her conviction under Section 498A IPC. However, the court said that since she suffered detention for three years during the course of investigation, trial and pendency of the appeal, her sentence should be reduced to the period for which she had already suffered detention.
The court, however, refused to interfere with the order and sentence against the husband who was charged for offences under both Section 498A and 306 of the IPC.
The case dates back to 2017. The father of the deceased said his daughter had called him on June 17, 2017 requesting him to take her back home as her in-laws were allegedly torturing her. On the next day at 4 am, the father was informed by the husband that his daughter had passed away. The father, in the police complaint, alleged that on June 17 from 8:30 am the accused persons inflicted physical and mental torture upon her and forcibly administered poison to her on June 18 night when she started vomiting. After doing rounds of two hospitals, one nursing home, she was finally declared ‘brought dead’ at the fourth nursing home.
The prosecution relied on 18 witnesses (mostly neighbours). Majority testified there were frequent quarrels which increased whenever the sister-in-law visited the home with her husband. On the incident day, they testified that the quarrel continued till late at night and that she may have been poisoned. One of the neighbours testified he visited the deceased’s home along with his wife and saw her lying on the bed while holding onto her child. Also, a pungent smell was dominant inside the house.
A senior scientific officer testified that no poison was found in the viscera but mentioned there are several reasons why traces of poison get removed from the body. The autopsy surgeon testified that stomach materials collected in autopsy revealed a pungent smell which could be the abnormal cause for the death.
