Indian Supreme Court Acquits Husband Accused of Killing Wife
"Wife's Testimony Was Inconsistent and No Evidence of Crime"
A man who had been serving a life sentence for burning his wife to death in India was acquitted after 12 years.
According to the local daily Times of India (TOI) on the 11th, the Supreme Court of India acquitted the appellant husband in a trial held the previous day. The Supreme Court ruled that although the husband was sentenced to life imprisonment based on the wife's statement made shortly before her death, the wife's testimony was inconsistent and there was no evidence of the crime.
The appellant had been serving a life sentence in a lower court for burning his wife to death 12 years ago in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
However, the Supreme Court found significant contradictions in the victim's testimony. The wife initially stated that the fire started while she was cooking, but later changed her statement to say that her husband poured kerosene on her body and set it on fire.
Furthermore, after reviewing the statements of doctors and other witnesses, it was confirmed that when the appellant's wife was brought to the hospital with burns, there was no smell of kerosene on her body.
The Supreme Court emphasized, "There is no doubt that dying declarations are important evidence and can alone lead to a conviction, but dying declarations must be judged after assessing their quality and verifying the facts related to the case."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
