Ghaziabad court hands man 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for killing wife within 3 months of marriage for dowry | Noida News
Ghaziabad: A special court on Tuesday sentenced a man to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for the murder of his wife within three months of their marriage in 2018 over dowry. The court imposed a fine of Rs 27,000 on the convict and directed that the money be transferred to the victim’s mother.The woman, Neha Jaijania, was found hanging at her rented accommodation in Indirapuram on June 25, 2018. Her mother, Sunita Rani, subsequently lodged a complaint accusing her son-in-law, Rahul Agrawal, and his parents, Anil and Poonam, of torturing her daughter for dowry and abetting her suicide. She alleged that the accused had demanded a car and Rs 10 lakh soon after the marriage.A case under Indian Penal Code sections 304B (dowry death) and 498A (cruelty), along with provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was registered and Rahul was arrested the same day. Police, however, did not find any evidence against his parents and filed a chargesheet against Rahul on Sept 24 that year.During the trial, the prosecution examined around a dozen witnesses, including the victim’s family members. In her testimony, Sunita said her daughter, who worked in Noida, and Rahul had a court marriage in Delhi, but soon faced harassment over dowry demands. She stated that the couple began living separately in Indirapuram after disputes with the in-laws. According to her, a heated argument took place between the couple on the day of the incident, following which Neha was found hanging.The defence denied all allegations, arguing that the marriage was a love marriage and there was no demand for dowry. The accused claimed the couple shared cordial relations and alleged that Neha was under stress as Sunita was harassing the couple for an intercaste marriage.After hearing both sides, the court held that no material evidence was on record to dismiss the dowry demand charges. It noted that the death occurred within a short period of marriage and placed the burden on the accused to explain the circumstances. Observing that he was the only person present at the time and failed to rebut the allegations, the court found him guilty.Additional sessions judge Arwind Mishra convicted Rahul under IPC Section 498A for cruelty and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs 25,000. He was also awarded 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 304B IPC (dowry death) and two years under Sections 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act with a Rs 2,000 fine. All sentences will run concurrently.The court also ordered that a departmental action be set up against one of the police investigators in the case, Ravi Kumar, for trying to botch up the investigation.
