Mumbai: Despite the family refusing to support the prosecution’s case, a sessions court has convicted and sentenced a Kurar man to life term five years after he hacked his 35-year-old wife to death on the suspicion of infidelity.
Victim Maya More’s three daughters and her mother-in-law, cited as witnesses, had claimed an unknown person had attacked her. The daughters had wanted the accused, Dinesh More, out of jail.
The court relied on the statements of other witnesses and the last seen theory to find Dinesh guilty. “If an accused takes a defence of alibi, it must be proved with cogent evidence. If a third person committed the murder, the accused would have taken the deceased to hospital… The defence’s attempt to introduce the theory of an ‘unknown person’ is baseless,” additional sessions judge D G Dhoble said. The court said it was proved that on Feb 27, 2020, Dinesh inflicted blows on Maya’s neck, face and cheek with a koyta knowing that the injuries could lead to death.
The prosecution had sought a death sentence, but the judge said Dinesh was a first-time offender and the offence, though heinous, did not indicate a premeditated plan. —Rebecca Samervel
