Domestic violence case: Accused 103-year-old stuns visitors in court

Sumitra Sethi being brought out of Killa court. Pic/Satej Shinde

On Friday, an ambulance disrupted the daily routine at the Esplanade (Killa) court. Soon, heads turned as a 103-year-old woman was brought out to be taken to a courtroom for a hearing. The centenarian, Sumitra Sethi, has been accused of domestic violence by her biological daughter, 76. Her 82-year-old son Viney Sethi is the co-accused in the case. mid-day was the first to report about the tragic case.

She called the case misuse of the law. The frail mother and son duo appeared before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at the court near CST. They said they want to "live and die" peacefully. The court will hear the case next on July 4.

On June 16, mid-day reported that 76-year-old Urvashi Kapoor had filed a case in Marine Drive police station against her 103-year-old mother and 82-year-old brother and his wife for wrongful restraint. The FIR was apparently due to a dispute in the family over a multi-crore flat at the sea-facing Chateau Marine building. Kapoor said she was not allowed to enter the apartment.

Sumitra Sethi and her son Viney at Esplanade Court on Friday. Pic/Satej Shinde

After she was denied entry, Urvashi was taken back to the hospital where she and her daughter Namrata Kapoor had tested positive for Covid-19. Later, Namrata filed a case on behalf of her mother under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

After she arrived at the Killa court in an ambulance, Sumitra was taken to court no. 8 in a wheelchair. "I want to plead before the court that the case filed against me and my family is a misuse of law and I want to live peacefully and die peacefully. I am tired of this mental torture now." Her advocate Himanshu Maratkar said, "My client's health is so frail she felt weak and slept in the courtroom itself."

Advocate Varsha Bhogle appearing for Namrata Kapoor said, "The respondents in the DV case were present in the court and an attempt was made to make a glaring impression of the age of the accused person. Simply by stating age and by virtue of one person falling in the ‘senior citizen' age bracket, sovereign immunity cannot be claimed. My clients were denied entry into their own house and an FIR has been registered for wrongful restraint," she added. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate N U Parma will hear the case next on July 4.