Lucknow: Nearly nine years after a woman was burnt alive over a family dispute in Hardoi, a district court has sentenced her brother-in-law and his wife to life imprisonment, relying primarily on the victim’s dying declaration despite key prosecution witnesses turning hostile during the trial.District judge Rita Kaushik convicted Pappu alias Aslam and Chhuttakki alias Rukhsana and also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each. The court held that the victim, Sahreen, was doused with kerosene and set ablaze.The case dates to Dec 3, 2017, when Sahreen, a resident of Hardoi’s Sandila, was attacked at her matrimonial home. Her father, Shamshad Khan, lodged an FIR the following day.Sahreen’s husband Kaleem had died about six years earlier, after which she continued to live with her three children at her in-laws’ house. Tensions escalated after a tree from the family’s property was sold and she demanded a share of the proceeds for herself and her children.Prosecutors told the court that Sahreen was confined to a room, assaulted and then drenched with kerosene before being set on fire. She was first taken to a local health facility in Sandila and later referred to Lucknow. She died during treatment on Dec 19, 2017.Initially, police named five relatives, including Sahreen’s mother-in-law and other family members. However, after investigation, a chargesheet was filed against Aslam, Rukhsana, Asad Ali and Guddu. Barsati and Guddu died during the trial.The prosecution examined 15 witnesses, including doctors, family members, the magistrate who recorded Sahreen’s statement and the investigating officer. A crucial piece of evidence was Sahreen’s dying declaration, recorded by Additional Magistrate Srishti Dhawan while she was undergoing treatment.In her statement, Sahreen said Pappu, Rukhsana and Guddu brought kerosene in a Pepsi bottle and poured it over her before setting her ablaze. She said the dispute stemmed from her demand for money for her children and denied that she had attempted self-immolation.Although Sahreen’s father and four other prosecution witnesses later retracted their earlier statements and claimed the burns were accidental, the court found the dying declaration, medical evidence and other material on record sufficient to establish the guilt of the accused.
