Ghaziabad: A city court has sentenced a man to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for killing his wife for dowry. Four years after Saina was murdered, Teelamore resident Jahangir Khan — who was a co-accused along with his parents, both of whom died in the course of the hearing — was awarded an additional three years for physical and mental torture, besides a fine of Rs 10,000. The two sentences will run concurrently.Additional district and sessions judge Nitendra Kumar said on Friday, Khan “committed the crime of demanding dowry and cruelty” against his wife — Saina — and murdered her for dowry within approximately one and a half months of their marriage.“This court is of the legal opinion that while there is no special reason to sentence accused Jahangir Khan to life imprisonment, sentencing him to even the minimum sentence is not justified. It would be justifiable to sentence him to the maximum sentence prescribed for the crimes of demanding dowry and subjecting the deceased to cruelty. The ends of justice would be served by sentencing him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for the offence under Section 304B of the IPC and three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 (ten thousand rupees) for the offence under Section 498A of the IPC,” the court ruled.An FIR was registered with the Teelamore police station following a complaint lodged by the deceased woman’s father, Amaruddin Ansari, on April 15, 2022, against son-in-law Jahangir and his parents — Ameerul Haq and Zareena — accusing them of torturing her for dowry and either pushing her to death from the eighth floor of their flat or abetting her suicide early in the morning on the same day. He said his daughter Saina called the previous night to inform him about the physical and mental torture meted out to her and that he was supposed to go to pick her up the next day.Police registered a case under Sections 304B and 498A of the IPC along with Section 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act and filed a chargesheet against the three on May 14, following which the court framed charges on Sept 15 the same year.From the arguments, it was revealed that after the marriage was finalised, the deceased Saina gave Jahangir Rs 50,000 via PhonePe. Later, when the accused demanded a motorcycle at the time of the marriage, her father gave him Rs 1 lakh in cash. Saina’s harassment for dowry continued even after marriage.A few days before the incident, when she returned to her parents’ home, she told her mother, Gulshan Begum, about her husband and her in-laws threatening her for dowry. After this, Jahangir took her with him on April 10, assuring her that she would not be harassed any more.On April 14, Saina called her mother crying to inform her that her mother-in-law reprimanded her for receiving a small dowry. Her mother promised to come the next day and discuss the matter with her in-laws. Subsequently, on April 15, Jahangir physically assaulted Saina and then threw her from the eighth floor, killing her.The court held that the charges framed against Jahangir under Sections 498A and 304B of the IPC were proved beyond a reasonable doubt, but the alternative charge framed against him under Section 306 of the IPC was not proved as no evidence emerged of the accused instigating the deceased to commit suicide for any reason other than harassing her regarding dowry demands.“Therefore, accused Jahangir has been found not guilty under Section 306 of the IPC and his complicity in murdering his wife, punishable under Section 304B, is proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” the court held.
