New Delhi: A man has been held guilty of strangulating his wife by a Delhi court, which noted that it was a "cold blooded murder".
"The accused caused death of his wife by strangulating her with a 'dupatta' within the four walls of her house which is considered as the most protective place," Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Sharma said.
The judge said there was no evidence that the victim had provoked her husband or "that accused Vasudev caused death of his wife in a sudden fight in the heat of passion. It was a cold blooded murder".
The court, which is yet to pronounce the quantum of sentence, convicted Vasudev, a resident of GTB Enclave in north east Delhi, of the offence under section 302 (murder) of the IPC.
While holding Vasudev guilty of killing his wife Arti, the court relied on testimonies of police and other independent witnesses besides her post mortem report which said the cause of death was strangulation.
"Therefore, it is beyond any doubt that the death of Aarti was a homicide and not a suicide or an accident," it said, adding the man has no explanation as to how his wife died due to strangulation within the precincts of house.
The court, however, acquitted the man, who was working as a security guard in a factory, of the charge of cruelty under section 498A(subjecting wife to cruelty) of the IPC saying the prosecution failed to bring home the charge as the victim's brother and father failed to support the case.
According to the prosecution, on August 28, 2012 Vasudev made a call to the police saying he has murdered his wife, while his three-year-old daughter was in another room.
It said he had a quarrel with Aarti as she had sold his car in his absence and without his permission due to which they had strained relations.
It was also alleged by family members of the victim that she was cruelly treated by Vasudev to pressurise her to bring dowry. However, this charge could not be proved.
During the trial, the accused had pleaded innocence and claimed he was falsely implicated and denied making any call to the police.
