Man walks away with lenient sentence for pushing wife off stairs

A man, who pushed her wife down the staircase under the influence of alcohol and injured her severely, has been sent to three-month imprisonment by a Delhi court, which took a lenient view towards him saying he appeared remorseful.

The court awarded him a sentence of three months and 12 days, the period he has already spent behind bars during trial, for the offence of attempt to commit culpable homicide punishable under section 308 of the IPC considering that the victim and her daughter had separated from him immediately after the incident two years ago.

"Convict has been found guilty for offence punishable under section 308 (Part II) of the IPC, which attracts punishment in the form of imprisonment up to seven years... The convict has clean records and it seems that he has mended his ways.

"Further, he appears to be remorseful. Moreover, the complainant and their daughter had already left the company of the convict. This court is of the view that a lenient view is required to be taken against the convict. The convict is sentenced to imprisonment for the period already undergone (3 months and 12 days) by him," Additional Sessions Judge Vivek Kumar Gulia said.

According to the prosecution, an FIR was registered on the complaint of the victim alleging that on April 16, 2016, her husband started abusing her under the influence of liquor and when she resisted his behaviour, he kicked and punched her.

Before her daughter could rescue her, her husband pushed her off the stairs, due to which she suffered multiple fractures and injuries in her hands, face and head. The incident took place at his residence in Dabri area of southwest Delhi.

The man had denied all the allegations claiming he had a verbal altercation with his wife, after which she accidentally slipped from the stairs.

The court, while holding him guilty, relied on the sole testimony of the victim saying she answered all the material questions "convincingly and no inconsistency, discrepancy or contradiction cropped up during her deposition.