HC dismisses husband's plea for acquittal in wife's murder case

Mumbai, Oct 11 (UNI) The Bombay High Court today dismissed the appeal of a husband, who had burnt his wife to death, against the judgement of Pune Sessions Judge, convicting him and sentencing him to life imprisonment.

A division bench comprising Justice V G Palshikar and Nishita Mhatre dismissed the plea on the grounds that prima facie, there was evidence available against Dilip Padwal who burnt alive his wife Seema (39) on January 18, 2001.

Public Prosecutor Pradeep Hingorani told the court that while the police had recovered the matches and kerosene can used by Padwal to burn Seema, she had also given an extra-judicial confession to her father while she was in the hospital.

A Special Magistrate had also recorded her dying declaration accusing her husband after the doctor's certification that she was fit to give the same, he added.

While she died in a couple of days after the incident, the Session Judge at Pune held him guilty for murder u/s 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to life term.

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