HC upholds life term to Unnao man in 2015 murder case of wife

A division bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Justice Avdhesh Kumar Chaudhary passed the judgment on November 27, dismissing an appeal filed by Jitendra Pal,

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has upheld the life term awarded to an Unnao man for killing his wife in 2015 and observed that a husband is presumed to be the “protector of his wife”.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court observed that the husband is presumed to be the wife’s protector. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

Consequently, when it was established that he was last seen with her, his threshold of explanation under Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act stands on a “higher pedestal than a normal person,” the court said.

A division bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary passed the judgment on November 27, dismissing an appeal filed by Jitendra Pal, the convict. He had challenged the trial court’s judgment awarding life imprisonment to him for the murder of his wife Anita Pal. The case pertained to the Ajgain police station area of Unnao.

The court clarified that while the prosecution must prove the foundational facts, once the “last seen together” circumstance is established between spouses, the husband cannot take refuge in silence or vague denials.

The case dates back to March 9, 2015. The prosecution successfully established that the man brought his wife to her maternal village. A witness testified to seeing him taking the wife away on his motorcycle around 6pm. The husband had assured the witness they would “be returning shortly.”

However, they never returned and the next morning, the wife’s body was discovered in a wheat field in the nearby village. The medical evidence confirmed homicidal death by strangulation. In 2017, the trial court convicted the husband and he was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. Challenging his conviction, he moved the high court.

The high court, observing that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, upheld the impugned judgment of the trial court and directed the appellant to undergo the sentence awarded.