Delhi: Court orders lesser charge against man who assaulted influencer wife

The court said that while strangulation and injuries indicated the accused knew his actions could have caused death, the evidence was insufficient

Nearly four years after a 50-year-old man allegedly strangled his wife, dragged her on the road, and beat her at their home in central Delhi’s Ranjit Nagar, a Delhi court has held that he can be “convicted” of attempted culpable homicide, but not attempted murder.

The woman, aged around 40, is a fitness influencer with over 100,000 followers on Instagram. (Representational image)

Police on Friday said they had initially booked the accused for attempted murder, but last Wednesday (July 16), the court directed that he be charged under Section 308 of the Indian Penal Code (attempt to commit culpable homicide), instead of Section 307 (attempt to murder).

The court observed that while the act of strangulation and the resulting injuries indicated the accused knew his actions could have caused death, the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction for attempted murder.

The woman, aged around 40, is a fitness influencer with over 100,000 followers on Instagram. According to the police FIR, her husband objected to her wearing “gym clothes” and uploading videos on social media. At the time of the assault, she was also a civil defence volunteer.

As per the FIR, the incident occurred on September 22, 2021. “He was thrashing me and I tried to save myself. He strangled me with my chunni… My two children saved me as they pulled him away. However, my husband then grabbed me by my hair and dragged me out of the house. My children struggled to rescue me again… I rushed inside, locked the door, and called the police,” the FIR quotes her as saying.

She was taken to RML Hospital for treatment. When she returned home the next day, she alleged that her husband again threatened her and tried to dissuade her from filing a complaint. She called the police again after he allegedly strangled her a second time using the chunni.

A senior police officer said, “We arrested the accused within days of the incident. He was unemployed and financially dependent on his family. The woman had multiple abrasions on her neck and back. Initially, we charged him with attempt to murder, but the court has held that Section 308 is more appropriate.”

In its July 16 order, the court stated: “The prosecution could not prove the attempted murder allegations. This court is of the opinion that from the material available on record, the accused can be safely convicted for the offence under Section 308 IPC… The medical documents have proved that she had abrasions on her neck. Thus, he can be attributed to have had the knowledge that by his act of strangulation he was likely to cause the death of the victim, and his act clearly fell within the definition of clause thirdly of Section 299 IPC [culpable homicide]. Had death occurred, it would have fallen under Section 304 IPC [culpable homicide not amounting to murder].”

Nearly four years after a 50-year-old man allegedly strangulated his wife, dragged her on the road and beat her up at their home in central Delhi’s Ranjit Nagar, a Delhi court has held that the man can be “convicted” of attempted culpable homicide (not amounting to murder.

Police on Friday said they had booked the accused for attempted murder but last Wednesday (July 16), a Delhi court directed that the accused must be booked under Indian Penal Code Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), instead of Section 307 (attempt to murder).

The court observed that while the act of strangulation and the resulting injuries indicated knowledge that his actions could have led to death, the evidence was not sufficient to sustain a conviction of attempt to murder.

The woman, aged around 40, is a fitness influencer with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram. According to the police FIR, her husband objected to her wearing “gym clothes” and posting videos on social media. At the time of the assault, she was also a civil defence volunteer.

As per the FIR, the incident took place on September 22, 2021. “He was thrashing me and I tried to save myself. He strangled me with my chunni… My two children saved me as they pulled him away. However, my husband then grabbed me by my hair and dragged me out of the house. My children struggled to rescue me again… I rushed inside and locked the door and called police,” the FIR quotes the woman as saying.

She was taken to RML Hospital for treatment. When she returned home the next day, she alleged her husband threatened her again and tried to stop her from filing a complaint. She called police once more after he allegedly strangled her again with a chunni.

A senior police officer said, “We had arrested the accused within days of the incident. He was unemployed and financially dependent on his family. The woman had multiple abrasions on her neck and back. Initially, we charged him with attempt to murder. But the court held that Section 308 was more appropriate.”

The court, in its July 16 order, noted: “The prosecution could not prove the attempted murder allegations. This court is of the opinion that from the material available on the record, the accused can be safely convicted for the offence under Section 308 IPC… The medical documents have proved that she had abrasions on her neck. Thus, he can be attributed to have the knowledge that by his act of strangulation he was likely to cause the death of the victim, and his act clearly fell within the definition of clause thirdly of Section 299 IPC. Had death occurred, it would have fallen under Section 304 IPC.”