Man handed 10 yrs in prison for killing wife over dowry

Ghaziabad: A 30-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while his parents handed 7 years term each, for burning his wife to death for dowry in February. The woman’s family claimed that she endured harassment for nearly four years since her marriage in 2019 and gave birth to a stillborn a few months back due to the torture.Additional district government counsel Naresh Chaudhury said Ester Singh, 29, married Sunny, a resident of Modinagar, on October 14, 2019. The woman was tortured by her in-laws right from the first year of the marriage.Last year, the woman had told her parents about the daily harassments and they brought her to their house in Amroha. However, Ester's in-laws apologised and took her back to Modinagar on October 13, 2022.Just four months later, on February 9, a neighbour informed Ester’s parents that her in-laws had set her on fire and she had been admitted to Subharti Hospital. The family found Ester with severe burns and struggling for life in the ICU. Two days later, they submitted a complaint against Sunny, his parents, Papinder and Maya Devi, and brother Suraj. On February 13, the victim was shifted to a Meerut hospital but the next day she died. The police arrested the four accused under sections of dowry death.During the trial, the prosecution produced 11 witnesses, including the woman’s brother Lovy, mother Kusum and Dr Ajay Kumar Sharma, who performed the autopsy. Sharma told the court that Ester’s body was badly burnt. “The victim had burns on her face, skull, hands and chest. Her hair was also burnt. There was smoke in her respiratory tracks, due to which she died,” he submitted.Ester’s brother Lovy also told the court that his sister had conceived a child a few years ago but gave birth to a stillborn as she was beaten up by her in-laws during the pregnancy.The defence had produced Nazma, the house owner, where Ester and Sunny lived as tenants as a witness. Nazma said Ester was depressed over the loss of her baby a few months ago. “I had not seen her in-laws demand money or torture her,” she said. The court, however, found contradictions in the statements of Sunny and his parents.Shiv Kumar Tiwari, additional sessions judge, on Wednesday, relied on the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and medical evidence and convicted Sunny and his parents. “Sunny is sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000 under Section 304-B (dowry death) of IPC and two years of imprisonment and Rs 2,000 fined under Section 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of IPC. Papinder and Maya are sentenced to seven years of imprisonment under Section 304-B of IPC and one year of imprisonment and Rs 2,000 fine under Section 498-A of IPC,” the court said. The sentences are to run concurrently. Sunny’s brother Suraj, however, was acquitted as he was in Hardoi at the time of the incident.