GHAZIABAD: The additional sessions court this week sentenced a 45-year-old man to rigorous life imprisonment for beating up his wife and setting her ablaze over dowry demands.
The case dates back to 2016, when Anil Tiwari – who was drunk at the time – thrashed his wife Vandana (34) and poured kerosene on her before setting her on fire at their house in Vivekanand Nagar of the city on July 17.
The couple got married in 2005, and has two minor sons.
Vandana’s father Maniraj Pandey filed a police complaint on July 20, Adesh Tyagi, additional district government counsel, said on Thursday.
“Anil had been harassing Vandana and demanding dowry. Vandana had made a police complaint in the past, but Anil used to apologise and assure her that he will mend his ways. But he continued to harass her,” Pandey had told the cops.
He added that Vandana had called him on the day of the incident. She haf told him that Anil was drunk and was threatening to kill her.
Vandana was rushed to a private hospital after neighbours alerted police on the night of July 17. She was referred to Delhi’s Safdarjang Hospital, where she died of 98% burn injuries two days later. Before her death, she told the doctors that Anil had set her on fire.
“The victim died in the hospital at 2.40 am. She had suffered 98% burn injuries,” Dr Deepa Durga Rai, who was treating Vandana, said in the medical report.
During the hearing, the defence counsel said Vandana had tried to self-immolate. “Anil told me that he was with the children in one room while Vandana was in another room. She set herself on fire and Anil rushed to help her, and in the process, he also received burn injuries,” Anil’s brother Sanjay told the court.
But Ghaziabad additional sessions judge Tendra Pal relied on Vandana’s statements before her death and her medical reports to convict Anil.
“Anil is sentenced to rigorous lift imprisonment and fined Rs 20,000 under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and three years of imprisonment, and Rs 2,000 fine under Section 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of IPC,” the order dated July 4 said. Both the sentences will run concurrently.
