The deceased mother claimed that her husband and son were to blame in two recorded death declarations.
In Didar Singh & Anr v. State (Govt.of NCT of Delhi), the Delhi High Court recently confirmed a father and son's 2002 conviction for setting the latter's mother on fire.
Based on the woman's dying declaration, in which she repeatedly claimed that the husband and son had poured kerosene oil over her and set her on fire, a complaint was filed against them.
In 2002, the trial court found the father and son guilty and punished them. They then filed a challenge to the conviction in the High Court.
The Division Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Vimal Kumar Yadav begins their ruling with moving remarks about mothers.
The only person who can carry you for nine months in her womb, three years in her arms, and forever in her heart is a mother. There is no room for any kind of selfishness because the mother-child link is so strong, pure, and aboveboard.
The deceased mother's accusations against the son and his father were deemed serious and devastating by the court.
"There must be a very serious reason if the mother experiences something negative with her son. One can easily picture how bad the reason must be if that occurrence involves the mother's murder or homicide and there are allegations of the son's involvement in addition to the husband's. Allegations of murder and evidence destruction against the spouse and son would have to be extremely serious and heartbreaking.
The daughter of the dead discovered her mother burning in 2000. After being taken to the hospital by her son and daughter, she was discovered to have 100% burns. The deceased mother gave the investigating officer two recordings of her last declaration. She placed the responsibility firmly on her husband and son.
According to this Court, the deathbed declaration is reliable proof that her husband and son set her on fire.
"The dying declaration seems to be truthful and is consistent. The deceased had no motive to falsely accuse her spouse or adult son. She stood to lose nothing. Therefore, the Court determined that the dying declaration, being above board, free from any taint such as undue influence, fabrication, pressure, inducement, or for any temporal gain, is acceptable and leaves no room for the appellants to come to the conclusion that they were responsible for setting Gian Kaur on fire, which resulted in her death, which was neither suicidal nor accidental.
The father was also questioned by the court for cleaning up the crime scene rather than taking his wife to the hospital right away.
Why was there such a rush to clean up the crime scene that the husband didn't go with the victim to the hospital? There are circumstances against the appellants in the answers to these questions.
As a result, the Court rejected the appeal and maintained the conviction.
The appellants were represented by attorney Rakesh Tewari.
Aashneet Singh, an additional public prosecutor, represented the State.
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