Thane, Sep 10 A court in Thane district has sentenced a 28-year-old security guard to life imprisonment for brutally murdering his wife by setting her on fire after she refused to give him money to buy alcohol.
Additional Sessions Judge R V Tamhanekar passed the order on August 31. A copy of the order became available on Wednesday.
The incident took place on July 15, 2013, at Satnam Saki Co-operative Housing Society near Gurudwara in Ulhasnagar-4 under the jurisdiction of the Vitthalwadi Police Station.
According to the prosecution, Mahanamsing alias Robin Mansing Thapa, who worked as a watchman in the society, demanded money from his wife Nanhi alias Nandi Maha to buy liquor.
When she refused, he assaulted her, poured kerosene on her, and set her ablaze. The woman sustained 90 per cent burn injuries and died at Central Hospital, Ulhasnagar, on July 17, 2013.
Relying on the testimonies of prosecution witnesses including the victim's minor daughter who was a witness to the crime and the dying declarations recorded before a police officer and a Special Executive Magistrate, the court rejected the accused's defense that the victim suffered burn injuries due to a stove explosion.
"In such circumstances corroboration is not an absolute rule and conviction can rely entirely on a child's testimony if it remains credible, consistent and coherent. Minor contradictions do not destroy an otherwise truthful account," the judge held.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Thapa. He will have to undergo additional three months of rigorous imprisonment in default of payment.
