The Bombay High Court has refused to suspend the sentence of a mother-in-law who was convicted for setting ablaze her daughter-in-law, within seven months of marriage, observing that the “act is brutal”. The court also noted that the life of a young girl having a promising future has been prematurely snuffed out by the accused.
The HC was hearing an appeal filed by Malti Mhatre, 58, seeking suspension of her sentence pending hearing in her appeal. The sessions court at Panvel, on September 28, 2022, convicted Mhatre and her son (husband of diseases Jyoti) to life imprisonment under Sections 302 (punishment for murder), 304A (causing death by negligence), and 498A (cruelty by husband or relatives) of the IPC.
Mhatre filed a bail plea in 2023, which she withdrew after the court allowed them to approach again if the appeal was not decided within a year. As the appeal has not been decided yet, she again sought bail.
Mhatre’s advocate Rahul Arote submitted that the trial court operated under a presumption of guilt against the mother-son suo from the start, without independently assessing the circumstances. He further alleged that the FIR, by Jyoti’s father, was motivated by malice and did not mention any dowry demand.
Additional Public Prosecutor AS Shalgaonkar opposed the application highlighting the seriousness of the offence, and pointed out that the accused had brutally killed a young bride within seven months of marriage.
The court noted that Mhatre’s offence is serious. “The offence held to have been committed by the Applicant is serious. From the evidence on record it appears that the Applicant and her son had deliberately and ruthlessly restrained the hands and legs of the deceased to control her movements. Then they doused her with kerosene and set her alight. Undoubtedly the manner of commission of this act is brutal,” a bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Neela Gokhale observed on August 20.
Underlining that Mhatre has undergone only nine years of incarceration, the bench said: “The life of a young girl having a promising future has been prematurely snuffed out by the accused.”
Hence, the bench said, it is not desirable to suspend Mhatre’s sentence and enlarge her on bail in view of the facts, circumstances, and deposition of witnesses.
