‘Sil batta’, kitchen knife are deadly weapons, says HC
THE MAN HAD EARLIER BEEN ACQUITTED BY A LOWER COURT, WHICH SAID THE ITEMS WERE ‘LESS DANGEROUS’
NEWDELHI: The fact that a kitchen knife and a sil batta (grindstone) are readily available in most homes does not make them any less dangerous, the Delhi high court said on Thursday, while convicting a man of attempting to murder his wife with these implements.
The man had earlier been acquitted by a lower court , which said the two items were “less dangerous” and could not have been used in the crime.
A bench of justice S Muralidhar and justice Vinod Goel sentenced the man to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of ₹1 lakh for disfiguring his wife’s face by attacking her with a kitchen knife and hitting her with a grindstone on the intervening night of February 8 and 9, 2014.
“Merely because the kitchen knife and sil batta are readily available in most homes does not make them any less dangerous. A kitchen knife, used on the vital parts of a person’s body, can cause serious damage, like in the instant case where serious grievous wounds were inflicted on the neck of the victim, and this itself is a clear demonstration of how dangerous a weapon a kitchen knife really is,” the bench said.
It also said the victim’s face was permanently disfigured and she continues to bear the scars of the attack.
The court was hearing two appeals—one by the husband, Rakesh, who had challenged his conviction under section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) and 342 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The other one was by the wife, Nemwati, who challenged Rakesh’s acquittal for attempting to kill her. The trial court had held that if Rakesh had intended to murder his wife, “he could have easily arranged more dangerous knife/dagger or other deadly weapons of offence”.
The couple got married on June 19, 2007. But, soon after the wedding, there was disquiet between them and Nemwati had left her husband’s house two years prior to the incident.
On February 8, 2014, Rakesh went to his in-law’s house and said he wanted to take his wife with him to get her some medicines.
Nemwati left with the accused around 8.30pm, leaving their son at home. But, instead of taking her to the chemist’s shop, he took her to his house in Sultanpuri and attacked her with a knife and grindstone.
The bench held that the accused not only left her in a bloodied condition but also locked the door from outside.
“There was no question that the accused did intend that the victim should slowly bleed to death. Having been sure that she was rendered unconscious, he perhaps did not expect her to become conscious soon... Fortunately for the victim, she survived the brutal attack and managed to raise the alarm,” the high court said.