Woman sentenced to life for murdering daughter-in-law

MUMBAI: The sessions court has sentenced a woman to life for murdering her daughter-in-law, relying solely on the dying declaration of the victim.
Additional sessions judge A M Tamboli on Tuesday sentenced Kantaben Mehta (47) to life imprisonment for murdering her daughter-in-law, Veena Mehta (24) by burning her at their residence in Kalachowkie in south Mumbai on May 19, 2000.
The court however acquitted the victim's husband, Bharat Mehta, brother-in-law Kishor Mehta and father-in-law Dalpat Mehta following victim's dying declaration stated that it was Kantaben who had set her on fire.
According to the prosecution, the victim was married to Bharat on February 15, 1997 and since then had been harassed mentally and physically by her husband and in-laws for dowry.
The victim's dying declaration said that she was set on fire by Kantaben while her husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law who were present in the house tried to douse the fire by pouring cold water on her.
Veena suffered 64% burns and died three days later in a local hospital.
Relying on the dying declaration, the court convicted the mother-in-law for murder and acquitted remaining three accused.