New Delhi:
A Delhi court has convicted a man of trying to kill his estranged wife with a sickle inside court premises saying he was angry with the woman as she had filed many cases against him and refused to withdraw them.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Bansal held the man, a Delhi resident, guilty under section 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC saying, "In the present case, accused was angry with PW-4 (wife) as she had filed many cases against him.
"He used a darati (sickle) to cause injuries on her neck i.e., a vital part of the body and brandished the weapon in the air to scare away public persons who were trying to save the woman. All these facts and circumstances show that intention of the accused was to kill his wife," the judge said.
While relying on the victim's testimony, the judge said, "I am of considered view that her testimony is reliable and truthful on this aspect. She has received injury and is highly unlikely to spare the actual culprit."
The court, which is yet to pronounce the quantum of sentence, also said it is true that the complainant and the convict were entangled in litigations as relations between them were not cordial, but "this is no reason to discard her testimony".
It noted that the injury suffered by the woman could have caused death in ordinary course of nature.
"Had the injury been a little deep, it would have caused her death. It is good fortune that she survived the murderous assault only with a simple injury. There is no doubt in the mind of this court that accused attempted to cause her murder," it said.
The judge rejected the man's contention that it was impossible to bring the sickle inside the court premises as there is vigorous checking and frisking at the entrance.
"I am not impressed with this argument. It is true that there is checking and frisking at the entrance but it is not impossible that one cannot bring any weapon inside the court building. The accused must have managed somehow to bring the weapon inside the court. Installation of metal detectors is not a guarantee that no weapon of metal could be brought inside," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, on January 22, 2009 when the woman was waiting outside a court room to attend proceedings of a domestic violence case lodged by her against her husband, he caught hold of her from her hair and stabbed her with a sickle causing grave injuries on her neck.
It said when the public tried to save her, he brandished the weapon but was overpowered and apprehended with the weapon by the people, including advocates present there.
During the trial, the man had claimed he was falsely implicated by his wife as they had strained relations.