Thane court accepts woman’s initial dying declarations

A sessions court in Thane has acquitted a 54-year-old man, who was accused of killing his wife by setting her on fire in 2007, holding that when multiple inconsistent dying declarations exist, the earliest declaration must be preferred.

In his order on Tuesday, Sessions Judge RD Sawant said the prosecution failed to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt and dropped all charges against city resident Suresh Sanjiv Shetty.

The man was accused of pouring kerosene on his wife, Meena, and setting her ablaze inside their tin-shed room on March 20, 2007, after consuming liquor. Meena sustained 60 per cent burns and succumbed three days later.

Advocate Rajan Salunkhe represented Shetty.

Judge Sawant was critical of the prosecution’s heavy reliance on a dying declaration recorded two days after the incident. Where multiple dying declarations exist and are inconsistent with one another, the earliest declaration, being closest in time to the event and least susceptible to influence, is “ordinarily needed to be preferred”, the judge said.

Referring to the woman’s initial dying declarations recorded on the day of the incident, the court said that “the deceased stated that the stove accidentally blasted while she was cooking tea, that her husband himself took her to hospital, and that she had no complaint against him.”

Regarding the other declaration, the court said, “This deliberate two-day silence, followed by a sudden and complete reversal, is a classic indicator of fabrication and renders them wholly untrustworthy. The physical and spot evidence independently corroborates the accidental version.”

Rejecting the prosecution’s argument regarding the accused absconding for several years after the crime, the court held “abscondance of accused cannot be treated as substitute for proof”.

It then set aside all charges against Shetty.