New Delhi:
Three members of a family, including a woman, have been sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment by a Delhi court for unintentionally killing a man who suffered a heart failure after they assaulted him with sticks and brick at his house.
Additional Sessions Judge Rakish Bhatnagar held Delhi residents Satish, his brother Naresh Kumar and his wife Poonam guilty under the provisions of the IPC saying they had the knowledge that their act was likely to cause victim Pradeep's death but they had no intention to kill him.
"Keeping in view the facts of this case and the injuries suffered by deceased Pradeep Kumar as per the medical evidence and the manner in which the injuries have been inflicted by the accused persons, it can be said they had the knowledge that the injuries inflicted by them are likely to cause death but it cannot be said that they had any intention to cause death and no such intention has been established on record by the prosecution," the court said.
It imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on the three convicts.
The court also relied on the statement of prosecution witnesses and said Satish, Naresh and Poonam, residents of Narela, in furtherance of their common intention trespassed Pradeep's house after making preparations to hurt him and also beat him due to which he received injuries.
According to the prosecution, a complaint was lodged by Pradeep's mother Sheela that the incident took place on November 27, 2011 when she and her daughter-in-law had gone to market while her son was at home.
When they were returning home, someone informed her that Satish, Naresh and his wife Poonam were beating Pradeep, it said.
When the woman reached home, she tried to save Pradeep but the trio also hit her with a stick and fled, it said, adding that the victim was taken to hospital and after his medical check up, he was discharged the same night.
However, the next day, Pradeep complained of pain and started vomiting and he was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
The court noted that the accused were aware that Pradeep, who was a drunkard, was undergoing treatment and despite being aware of his physical condition, they beat him up.
"The beatings given by the accused and subsequent visit of victim to the hospital must have definitely resulted in stress and strain on the injured Pradeep which precipitated the cardiac failure which as per the opinion of the doctor was a cause of death in this case," it said.
During the trial, the trio had claimed innocence saying they were falsely implicated in the case.