Mumbai man gets 3 years’ rigorous imprisonment for flinging acid on wife who lost an eye – Times of India

MUMBAI: Nine years after a 50-year-old Ghatkopar man flung acid on his wife’s face, leaving her visually impaired in one eye, a magistrate court recently convicted and sentenced him to three years’ rigorous imprisonment. The man has also been ordered to pay Rs 40,000 to the woman, a mother of three and a social worker. The accused, Nagnath Jadhav, attacked his wife, Shubhangi Jadhav, as he believed she was involved in an affair.
“It seems that the offence was committed in order to teach a lesson to the informant (the victim) as she had relations with (one) Sameer but this fact is not proved. The informant has two boys and one girl. The children are with the informant. Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it seems that the aggravating circumstances are on a higher footing. Therefore, deterrent punishment has to be awarded to him,” the court said.
The court further said since the fine amount was not adequate for her proper rehabilitation, it is recommended that District Legal Services Authority, Mumbai, inquire and decide the quantum of compensation to be awarded to the woman under the state government’s Victim Compensation Scheme.
The prosecution’s case was that on April 23, 2012, police recorded Shubhangi’s statement when she was admitted to Sion Hospital. She informed them that around 4am, Nagnath went out of the house and immediately returned. She saw a pink glass in his hand. When Shubhangi asked him about the glass, suddenly he threw the liquid from the glass on her face. She said she felt a burning sensation in her eyes, face, nose and ears. Suspecting it to be acid and in intense pain, she began to shout. The accused fled and those living in the neighbourhood gathered. They poured water on her face. Thereafter, she was taken to Rajawadi Hospital by her sister-in-law and neighbours who later became witnesses in the case. After primary treatment at Rajawadi Hospital, she was referred to Sion Hospital, where she was admitted for over a fortnight.
The neighbours deposed in court alongside Shubhangi and supported her version.
The defence refuted the allegations and said someone else in the vicinity had attacked her. The defence also claimed the neighbours, two women, and Sameer’s family members, had deposed falsely against the accused. The lawyer argued they wanted to get back at the accused as earlier he had lodged an FIR against Sameer for “kidnapping” Shubhangi.
The court, though, said it was improbable that the witnesses were lying. “Why the informant will entangle the accused in a false case, that too for an injury committed by the other person? This argument seems to be without any base,” the court said.