The Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction of a man and his son for killing his wife by pouring kerosene and setting her ablaze, relying primarily on the dying declarations made by the victim in April 2002.
While the husband, Didar Singh, died of cancer during the pendency of the case, his son and co-accused, Maan Singh, has been absconding since he was let loose on bail in 2004.
During a hearing on Friday, a Bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Vimal Kumar Yadav remarked, “Deceased [Gian Kaur] had no reason to name her grown-up son or husband to falsely implicate them. She had nothing to gain.”
The court accepted that a Safdarjung Hospital doctor recorded her dying declaration, finding it “free from any taint like undue influence, fabrication, pressure, inducement”.
The incident dates back to the early hours of April 5, 2002, when, alarmed by neighbours, Gian’s daughter Taranjeet Kaur rushed to the terrace to find her mother in flames. With the help of her brother, Maan, she rushed her mother to Safdarjung Hospital, where Gian, in her declaration, stated that her husband and son had poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze. She repeated the same assertion to the investigating officer, and a few hours later, she succumbed to her injuries.
