Minor girl's testimony leads to conviction in dowry death case

Testimony of his minor daughter led to the conviction of a man who was accused of killing his wife for dowry, with a court here awarding him life sentence.
Six others, in-laws of the deceased woman, were also sentenced to life imprisonment.
The girl was five years old when her mother was killed.
Additional Sessions Judge Ashok Sharma yesterday held Pawan Sharma, resident of Ganjrampur village, and six others guilty of murdering his wife by strangulating her with a towel, Assistant Public Prosecutor Rambhajan Singh Pal said.
"The court accepted the testimony of the girl, who is now nine years old, and awarded life sentence to her father and six others. The girl was five years old when she witnessed the killing. She recorded her statement in the court about two years ago," Pal said.

Manisha (33), the victim, had married Pawan Sharma in 2007.

Her in-laws often pressed her to obtain jewellery from her father for the marriage of Pawan's brother, but she refused, the prosecutor said.
On July 22, 2013, Pawan and others strangulated her and performed her last rites before the death could be reported to the authorities.
Police began a probe after her father lodged a complaint.
The court yesterday convicted Pawan, the victim's father-in-law Hari Shankar, mother-in-law Sheela, sister-in-law Dhakko Bai, brothers-in-law Ram Naresh and Sonu and another sister-in-law Manju.