Gurdaspur, January 30
In a judgement appreciated by all sections of society, particularly women activists, the court of Baljinder Kaur Sidhu, Additional Sessions Judge, awarded life imprisonment to a Gurdaspur resident for burning his wife to death in May last year.

The court was recently established to deal specifically with cases of crimes against women. The case was put on fast track to ensure speedy justice to the kin of the deceased.

In her dying declaration, made before Rakesh Kumar, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate on May 10, 2010, Neeru had claimed that her husband had set her on fire after pouring kerosene oil on her, at their residence located on Geeta Bhawan road.

She had said she was mentally and physically harassed by her husband for not bringing a motorcycle in dowry.

She was rushed to the local Civil Hospital by her neighbours where doctors said she had suffered 100 per cent burns.

The counsel of the accused had contended that the woman had died due to burn injuries sustained in an accident. He had also claimed that the husband had tried to save his wife from burning and had himself sustained burn injuries.

Baljinder Kaur, in her judgement, said “It is a universal truth that nobody lied while dying and the woman had specifically stated in her dying declaration that her husband tortured her on account of dowry and that she was subjected to extreme cruelty before her husband set her on fire.”

She added, “The court is of the view that the prosecution has succeeded in proving its case against accused Vishesh Kumar beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt. Accordingly, the accused is being held guilty and is convicted under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The accused will have to undergo imprisonment for life.”