Delhi High Court Acquits Man in 2001 Attempt to Murder Case Involving Wife

The Delhi High Court has acquitted a man who was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for allegedly attempting to kill his wife by forcing her to ingest Baygon spray during a matrimonial dispute. In an order passed on August 24, the court allowed the appeal filed by Nafe Singh against a trial court judgment, granting him the benefit of the doubt.

Justice Vimal Kumar Yadav noted that the prosecution's case lacked cogent evidence regarding intention and knowledge under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. The court observed that it was unsafe to rely on the shaky evidence presented on record to sustain the conviction.

According to the prosecution, Mr. Singh and his wife were married in 2000, but relations between them deteriorated within a year. In 2001, during a dispute, the husband allegedly tried to make his wife drink insecticide from a tumbler. When that failed, he allegedly poured the liquid directly down her throat from the container.

An FIR was registered against Mr. Singh and his mother. The trial court had previously acquitted the mother but convicted Mr. Singh for attempt to murder.

Mr. Singh denied the allegations during the proceedings. He contended that matrimonial discord arose because his wife wanted to live separately from his widowed mother.

While delivering the verdict, the court observed that marriage is a paradoxical institution where issues must be addressed promptly. The court noted that a lack of timely resolution can turn relationships into conflict zones, leading to situations where physical violence creeps in.