Man gets 4 years jail for abetting woman's suicide in Thane

Thane (Maha): A district court on Friday sentenced a 48-year-old building material supplier from Bhiwandi here to four years of simple imprisonment for allegedly abetting the suicide of a woman in 2012.

Additional Sessions Judge M M Walimohammed convicted Bharat Bhandari from Saravali Pada village in Bhiwandi taluka for the incident that had taken place on the eve of Christmas in 2012.

Prosecutor Prakash Pujari told the court that the woman's husband was employed by Bhandari for a brief period. During this time, Bhandari developed illicit relations with the woman and due to this, there used to be frequent quarrels between the husband-wife duo.

The victim had three minor daughters and the accused was also married and had children, Pujari told the court. In her deposition, the 16-year-old daughter of the victim told the court that on the day of the incident, the accused came to their house around 8 pm and entered into a heated verbal exchange. She also told that after Bhandari left their place, her mother set herself on fire and died a day later at a hospital.

Following the incident, the accused had been charged under IPC section 306 (abetment of suicide). He had been arrested in February 2013, but was later released on bail. The prosecution examined around 12 witnesses in the case and deposition by the woman's daughter proved vital.