(Partly true story based on a case I argued 20 years ago in Supreme Court)
In a small village
She lived in a hell
Her husband used to
kill her everyday
And neighbours used
to pity her
One day she killed
her husband
The neighbours
gathered around
Shocked in disbelief
Wondered how a woman
kill a man?
And she was ready to
go to jail too!
The village vultures
eyed her with interest!
She was still young
and had no relatives
She looked an ideal
prey!
Sarpanch came and
took her to police
Police took her thumb
impression on a paper
And wrote that
robbers killed her husband
It looked better to them
to keep the young woman in village than in jail
The woman however thought otherwise
She felt, people in jail may be better than people outside
The woman went to Magistrate
And told him truth,
That she herself had
killed her husband.
Police charge-sheeted
her on two counts
One, for offence of giving
wrong statement
To an upright police
officer
And on second charge,
for offence of
killing her husband who was a beast
She was sentenced to
six months
For telling a lie to a
police officer,
And she was sentenced
to life imprisonment
For speaking truth to a Magistrate
and to kill a husband who was a beast.
Haresh Raichura
(from book Tomato Soup for Judges and Lawyers)
Some Thoughts
Laws are blind because the Motive for a murder is not required to be seen as per laws. Consequently, Police is also not required to investigate and prove motive of a crime.
If there are any peas available for self defense, it has to be specifically taken in Trial Court. At later stage, courts do not permit you to raise it.
Instant case was of a very poor woman, living in very small village.
Probably, legal aid was given to her at much later stage after charge sheet was filed.
Where a constantly tortured woman kills her husband, some defenses on self defense could be available. A senior advocate told me that in a case of sexual assault, in self defense, a woman is permitted to go to extent of killing the assaulter.
Until the law insist that in such cases, police must investigate and prove motive also, I think the law will remain blind as such.
