The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to a woman who had allegedly killed her husband but claimed that he died by suicide at their residence, saying that she has been in custody for over a year and the possibility of trial concluding soon is "remote".
Justice MS Karnik granted bail to the 37-year-old Pune resident on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000.
According to the prosecution, she allegedly killed her husband on the intervening night of April 4 and 5, 2022 at their residence while her son and nephew were sleeping in the other room.
Post mortem report suggested murder by strangulation
Initially, the Uttamnagar Police Station registered a report pertaining to suicide. However, the post mortem report suggested that the death was due to strangulation. The police then registered an FIR, indicating murder.
The woman approached the HC through advocate Satyavrat Joshi after her bail plea was rejected by the sessions court considering the statements given by her son and nephew indicated that the woman woke them around 5.30am and that her husband had died by suicide, but when they saw the body, it was found to be in the kneeling position which the sessions judge had found "suspicious".
The sessions court, while rejecting the bail plea, noted the opinion of the doctor who conducted the post mortem report that it was a serious offence. Before the HC, her advocate Satyavrat Joshi pointed to the difference in the statement of the son.
Son's statement to police differs from what he told the magistrate
The son, in his statement before the police, said that his father had come home drunk and the mother had fought with him. He had even said that his mother told him that she strangulated the husband and then projected the incident as if it was a suicide by hanging.
However, in his statement recorded by the magistrate, the son had not mentioned anything about the mother confessing. Justice Karnik granted bail observing that the woman was in prison for one year and four months with the "possibility of trial concluding any time soon appearing remote."
Besides, the woman had no criminal antecedents and she did not appear to be a flight risk, the HC noted, while granting her bail.
