Maha: Husband, three aides acquitted in murder of wife

On January 5, 2014, the victim's parents received a message that she had died of snakebite at the brick kiln

A court here in Maharashtra has acquitted a man and his three associates accused of killing his wife six years ago and destroying evidence of the crime.

District Judge P P Jadhav, in his order last Tuesday, acquitted the woman's husband, Datta Kisan Jadhav (33), and his three colleagues Ravidas Rajaram Patil (51), Dayanand Kisan Jadhav (28) and Subash Ramu Bhurkud (44), saying the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them.

All the four accused and the victim, identified as Pushpa, worked in a brick kiln at Desaigaon in Thane district.

According to the prosecution, the victim got married to Datta Jadhav, a resident of Jamghar in Wada taluka of neighbouring Palghar district, in 2012.

The accused did not allow his wife to visit her parents' house. He also doubted her character and used to beat her up after coming home heavily drunk, the prosecution said.

When they reached the accused's house at Jamghar, they noticed wounds on the body, said the prosecution.

The victim's mother subsequently filed a police complaint, saying she suspected that her daughter did not die of snakebite but was beaten to death by her husband.

Based on the complaint, the victim's husband and his three colleagues were arrested.

While the husband was booked under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder), his colleagues were charged under IPC Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), 176 (failure to give information to public servant) and 34 (common intention).

The judge noted that after filing complaint in the case, the victim's mother admitted that she had not seen her daughter's body at Jamghar.

She also admitted that her sister and some members of a tribal organisation narrated the incident to police, instead of her.

The victim' mother had also not asked Datta Jadhav or his parents as to howher daughter died, the judge observed.

"Thus, the complaint is apparently disproved through the cross-examination. Considering the entire evidence on record, it is clear that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the charges levelled against the four accused, hence they need to be set free," he said in the order.