Vendor found guilty of killing live-in partner

The prosecution laid stress on the dying declaration of the victim saying a Magistrate had recorded the woman’s statement. It brought as evidence the statement of an independent witness and the mother of the deceased. The court was told the accused had fled from the spot when the deceased’s mother had reached the accused’s residence. The court was also informed the mother of the deceased and a prosecution witness tried to save the girl and took her to a Sector 6 hospital from where she was later taken to PGI.

The defence counsel,however,said the woman had given the name of the accused as Beerbal. But this plea of the police having registered a false case was rejected. The defence counsel argued the police had recovered a can of kerosene oil from the accused’s house on the morning after the incident. The defence counsel said the timing of the recovery did not match the evidence produced. It was also argued that a medical report had suggested the burns could have been caused by the bursting of a stove,in which case,the death would be considered accidental.