Life term for 3 in dowry case

MUMBAI, November 6: The Thane Sessions Court recently sentenced Vimal Parvati Bhagwan, Shashikala Ashwini Anil, and Anil Sawant to life imprisonment in a dowry death case.

Meena Sawant, wife of Sunil Sawant, was burnt by her mother-in-law Vimal, sister-in-law Shashikala and brother-in-law Anil in 1995 due to her refusal to concede to their demand for dowry. Sunil and Meena, got married on May 19, 1995, and though the marriage had the consent of the families, a dowry demand of Rs 50,000 was made by Sunil’s parents. As Meena’s parents couldn’t afford to pay the amount, her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law started harassing her. They also gave wrong information to Sunil, saying Meena was having an extra-marital affair. They often instigated him to beat her up as well.

On June 19, Sunil beat up Meena for not cooking good food and left the house. The in-laws then poured kerosene on Meena, set her afire and locked her in one of the rooms.

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When Sunil went back home, he heard his wife screamingfor help. He then opened the door of the room with the help of neighbours and took her to Dr Saptnekar Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. In her dying declaration, Meena said her in-laws had burnt her.

Special judge for atrocities on women, K D Patil, declared the murder as cruel and on the basis of Meena’s dying declaration, sentenced the in-laws to a life term.