Man sentenced to life for murdering 8-month pregnant wife

A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment and fined ₹15,000 for killing his pregnant wife for dowry. The accused stabbed her with a sharp weapon.

A 42-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment and slapped with a fine of ₹15,000 by the district court for killing his wife for dowry on August 10, 2013. She was eight-month pregnant when the accused stabbed her with a sharp-edged weapon.

The autopsy report had revealed that the woman, who was in her 30s, suffered multiple stabbed marks. Her foetus was also found dead in the abdomen (representational image)

The accused, Mobin Akthar, a native of Bijnor, resided at a rented accommodation in Noida’s Sector 24. He married Shadab Parveen in April 1, 2007.

The autopsy report had revealed that the woman, who was in her 30s, suffered multiple stabbed marks. Her foetus was also found dead in the abdomen.

According to the additional district government counsel (ADGC), Nitin Tyagi, Parveen’s brother Raees Ahmad lodged a complaint with Sector 24 police station in August 2013, alleging that after years of marriage, Akthar started pressurizing her for dowry.

The accused used to assault Parveen over dowry demand of ₹5 lakh to start a business, it said.

On July 25, 2013, when Raees came to meet his sister in Noida, she informed him that “Akthar gave her an ultimatum to bring the dowry amount by Eid festival (August 10, 2013) or face dire consequences”, said ADGC Tyagi.

“Raees received a phone call on August 9, 2013 and was informed by Parveen that Akhtar demanded dowry money on the due date, or he would kill her,” he further added.

“Due to financial problems when Raees was not able to fulfil Akthar’s demand he killed Parveen stabbing a sharp edge weapon on August 10, 2013 around 2.15 pm,” said ADGC Tyagi.

On Raees’ complaint, a case under Section 304-B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Sector 24 police station. But when the court observed the case, the Section was converted into Section 302 (murder), and booked him under the Section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act too, the court order said.

The Bench of Ranvijay Pratap Singh, an additional and district sessions judge in Gautam Budh Nagar, said in the verdict on Thursday, “Accused Mobin Akthar, accused of murder, was imprisoned for life and fined ₹10,000. For dowry demand, the accused was sentenced for two years and fined ₹5,000.”