‘I know impact of electrocution’: Madhya Pradesh professor convicted of killing husband contests autopsy report in HC

BHOPAL/JABALPUR: A 60-year-old professor, sentenced to 20 years in jail for killing her husband, has challenged the autopsy report saying that as a chemistry professor, she knows what impact electrocution has on the body.

The court heard her arguments recently and reserved judgment, pending which her sentence has been suspended.


The convict, Mamta Pathak of Chhatarpur, is arguing her case before an HC division bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and Devnarayan Mishra. Videos of her argument are being shared widely on social media.

She is seen trying to drive home her contention that it's not possible to differentiate between 'electric and thermal burn marks' in an autopsy, and this can be done only through chemical analysis.

HC tells chem prof it's hearing her arguments with an 'open mind'

Justice Agarwal asks her if she is a professor of chemistry; she nods and says, "Yes." The judge then asks her why her counsel did not ask the question of the doctor who had conducted the post-mortem examination during cross-examination in the trial court. She says, "I was in jail then." Justice Agarwal points out her error when she mixes up nitric acid and hydrochloric acid.

According to the prosecution, Mamta's husband, Dr Neeraj Pathak (63), was found dead in his house in Chhatarpur on April 29, 2021. Electric burn marks were detected at five places on his body.

Mamta, who teaches chemistry in a Chhatarpur college, lived separately from her husband but had returned to him a few months before his death. Although the couple had started living together again, they often fought over her suspicion that Neeraj had had an affair, the prosecution said. On the day of the incident, Neeraj called up a relative and told him that Mamta had been "torturing" him for two-three days; that she had not given him food and kept him locked in the bathroom. According to the prosecution, Neeraj said he suffered head injuries when she "thrust him into the bathroom". The relative contacted police, and Mamta released him from the bathroom when the cops intervened, says the prosecution. The relative, who is a witness in the case, called Neeraj later in the day to check on him. A recording of their phone conversation was presented in the trial court.

The same night, Neeraj died around 9pm. According to Mamta, she went to ask him for food but found that his pulse had stopped and he was dead. The next day, she went to Jhansi for dialysis but it couldn't be done in the absence of a Covid certificate. She returned at 9pm and only then informed police that her husband was dead, police said. Investigators found sleeping pills in her husband's room. The trial court held her guilty on the basis of circumstantial evidence and sentenced her to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.

In her argument, Mamta said her husband had got his house insured and it was safe from any kind of accident due to a short circuit or leak. She claimed that no expert inspected the house following the death of her husband.

The prof also questioned why there was no mention of foul smell emanating from her husband's body in the autopsy report or anywhere else as the postmortem examination was conducted 36 hours after his death and the body starts decomposing after 18 hours. The bench told Mamta that they are hearing her "out of turn" and with an "open mind" but cases are decided on the "touchstone of evidence". The verdict has been reserved.