70-yr-old handicapped woman sentenced till rising of court

A 70-year-old handicapped woman, convicted for aiding electricity theft in her premises here, has been sentenced to undergo imprisonment till the rising of the court by a Delhi court.
The court held Delhi-resident Zafari Begum guilty under the provisions of the Electricity Act and also asked her to pay the electricity bill of Rs 1.32 lakh which was raised by the power distribution company BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd.
Additional Sessions Judge Suresh Kumar Gupta said that the convict deserved a lenient view as no purpose would be served by "imposing harsh punishment" on the old woman.
"She (Begum) is more than 70 years old. She is differently abled person. No purpose will be served by imposing the harsh punishment. Keeping in view the entire facts as stated above, I am of the view that convict deserves a lenient view. Hence, convict is sentenced to undergo imprisonment till rising of the court," the judge said.

According to BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, during an inspection conducted by company officials on October 23, 2007 at Begum's premises, it was found that no electricity meter was installed and Wahid, Abdul and Sageer, co-accused in the case who were declared as proclaimed offenders by the court after they did not appear before it, were using the electricity.
The company claimed that Wahid, Abdul and Sageer, who were residing at Begum's premises, were indulging in direct theft of electricity by tapping power from the main lines with the help of illegal wires.
It said that Begum was the owner of the premises and she had "aided and abetted" electricity theft and the connected load was found to be for industrial, domestic and commercial purposes as well.