7-yrs RI to husband for abetting wife's suicide

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The additional sessions judge (Vaijapur), S K Upadhyay, has sentenced a husband, Raju Shyamrao Katkar (Ambikanagar in Malkapur Tehsil) to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fined Rs 4,000 under various sections for physically and mentally torturing and harassing his wife Chhaya and abetting her to commit suicide due to the absence of children.

Earlier, Chhaya's father, Tulshiram Ashruba Khillor (55, Palshi in Sillod tehsil) had filed a complaint. He stated, Chhaya had married Raju Katkar, 7 years ago. Due to the absence of children for the past 4 years, her husband and in-laws had been harassing and beating her. Consequently, a complaint was lodged against her husband and his parents at the relevant police station. However, relatives mediated and sent Chhaya back to her marital home. Despite this, the harassment did not stopped. The complainant and his relatives repeatedly tried to settle the issue with the accused. Meanwhile, the accused Raju had moved with Chhaya to the MIDC Waluj area. Both were working as daily wage labourers in a company. Despite many years passing without children, the accused mocked Chhaya, calling her as an infertile woman. Raju frequently beat Chhaya under influence of alcohol. Tired of the continuous harassment, Chhaya committed suicide by hanging herself at home on September 5, 2017. A case was registered at MIDC Waluj police station.

During the trial, additional public prosecutor Gajanan Manja recorded the statements of nine witnesses. After the hearing, the court found Raju Katkar guilty and sentenced him to 7 years of RI and fined him Rs 3,000 under IPC Section 306, and 3 years of RI and fined him Rs 1,000 under IPC Section 498 (A). The investigating officer, the then PSI Aarti Jadhav, filed the charge sheet, and the then ASI D K Gawli served as Pairavi Adhikari.