Woman gets life term for murdering daughter-in-law

A woman was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday for murdering her daughter-in-law in 2000.

A woman was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday for murdering her daughter-in-law in 2000. The court relied largely on the dying declaration of the victim while delivering the verdict.

Additional Sessions Judge A Tamboli convicted Kantaben Mehta (47) who had poured kerosene over her daughter-in-law Veena Mehta (24) at their residence in Kalachowkie and burnt her to death on May 19,2000. Veenas husband Bharat,his brother Kishore,and his father Dalpat were also named as accused in the case but were acquitted as evidence showed that they had tried to save Veenas life and rushed her to a hospital.

According to the prosecution,Veena married Bharat on February 15,1997,and since then had been harassed mentally and physically for dowry. Her dying declaration said it was Kantaben who had set her on fire while the other accused tried to save her. The police registered a case under Section 302 and 498-A against the accused and filed a chargesheet. The accused were on bail after spending a few days in prison.

During the trial,the prosecution examined over 10 witnesses to prove the charges against the accused. However,the allegation of dowry harassment under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) could not be proven as there was no conclusive evidence to show that there had been demand for dowry. Thus the court sentenced Mehta to life imprisonment and acquitted her family members.

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