The Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction of a husband and his son for killing their wife and mother by pouring kerosene on her 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 as police has not be able to trace him since he was let loose on bail in 2004.
A bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Vimal Kumar Yadav began the judgment delivered on November 14, noting, “A mother is the only person who carries you for nine months in her belly, three years in her arms and forever in her heart”.
It remarked that, “Deceased (Gian Kaur) had no reason to name her grown up son or husband to falsely implicate them. She had nothing to gain” while ruling that her dying declaration recorded by the Doctor attending her at Safdarjung Hospital as “free from any taint like undue influence, fabrication, pressure, inducement”.
The incident dates back to the early hours of April 5, 2002, when Ms. Gian Kaur was sleeping on the terrace of her home when neighbours raised an alarm. Her daughter, Taranjeet Kaur, rushed to the terrace and found her mother engulfed in flames. With the help of her brother Maan Singh, she took her mother to Safdarjung Hospital, where doctors found her with 100% burn injuries.
