Around 11 years after a man murdered his wife by setting her ablaze, a court here has sentenced him to life imprisonment, saying the aggravating circumstances in the case outweighed the mitigating circumstances.
Additional Sessions Judge Virender Kumar Kharta was hearing the arguments on the quantum of sentence against Giriraj Kishor Bhardwaj alias Shyam Naga, who was earlier convicted under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Additional public prosecutor Pankaj Kumar Ranga sought death imprisonment for the convict, saying he had committed the heinous offence of murdering his wife, Kusum, by setting her on fire after pouring some inflammatory liquid on her on September 24, 2014.
The prosecutor said that after the murder, one of the convict's sons discontinued studies and became a drug addict, while the other son, a minor, started working as a helper for a vegetable vendor.
In an order dated May 17, the court said, "In the present case, the aggravating circumstances have outweighed the mitigating circumstances, but still the present case does not fall within the purview of the rarest of rare doctrine (to award the death penalty)." The court then sentenced Bhardwaj to life imprisonment.
It also referred the case to the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to determine adequate compensation for the deceased's legal representatives, saying they had suffered mental trauma, inconvenience, hardship, disappointment and frustration.
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