A Delhi court has sentenced a factory owner to eight months in jail for causing the death of a woman worker and burn injuries to six others after he threw a liquid substance called thinner at them, leading to a fire.
Additional sessions judge Rakesh Kumar held guilty Naveen Chopra, a resident of Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh, for the offence. However, he was released from jail as he had already spent 10 months in prison during the trial.
"I am of the view that the convict deserves sufficient punishment and accordingly it is ordered that interest of justice shall be fully met if Chopra is awarded a sentence of rigorous imprisonment of eight months under Section 304 (II) (if act is done with knowledge that it is likely to cause death) of the IPC and R1 lakh fine and six months in jail along with R5,000 fine under section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the IPC," the judge said.
The court said of the fine amount R90,000 should be given to the kin of 30-year-old deceased Deepa as compensation. The court, however, acquitted Chopra's wife Mansi, who was also a co-accused in the case, on the ground that there was no sufficient evidence to prosecute her.
{{/usCountry}}The court said of the fine amount R90,000 should be given to the kin of 30-year-old deceased Deepa as compensation. The court, however, acquitted Chopra's wife Mansi, who was also a co-accused in the case, on the ground that there was no sufficient evidence to prosecute her.
{{/usCountry}}The incident took place on October 6, 2005, in Chopra's factory in Dilshad Colony area where glass plates were being made.
According to one of the victims, there was a fight between Chopra and Mansi following which he threw thinner over the girls working in the factory. When one of the workers, Deepa, tried to intervene, he threw the liquid at her.
As she was standing near a heater installed in the factory, the liquid caught fire and Deepa received serious burn injuries and eventually died.
Nine persons, including seven women workers, Chopra and Mansi, were injured. They were taken to GTB hospital where Deepa succumbed to her injuries.
Chopra sought leniency, saying he had also suffered 70% burns in the incident and despite that he took the injured to the hospital. Chopra also pleaded that he has been facing trial for eight years and has remained in jail for over 10 months.
However, his plea was opposed by the prosecution which said that it was a serious offence which was against society at large and the convict deserves stern punishment.