31-yr-old gets 7 years in prison for abetting lover’s suicide in 2016

MUMBAI: A 31-year-old man was sentenced to seven years in jail on Monday for abetting the suicide of his alleged lover, who was a bar dancer.

In 2016, the woman had set herself on fire and jumped out of a window from the building where she lived.

The court convicted Miraz Khan on the basis of the victim’s dying declaration, in which she claimed he abused her and demanded money from her, which led her to take the extreme step.

The woman, who had moved to Mumbai from Pune in 2016 and had started working as a dancer at several bars, had told the police that she met Khan at one of the bars and they became friends. In her statement , she said she fell in love with Khan, who would visit her at home frequently.

On March 18, 2016, when Khan came visiting, he found that she had given shelter to an old woman and they had a fight over it. She told the police that Khan abused her and assaulted her before locking her up in the house before he left.

Since she failed to unlock the door, she decided to set herself on fire using kerosene and jumped out of a window. After passers-by rushed her to a hospital in Bandra, Khar police registered a case and recorded her statement before she died of the burn injuries. The police said her dying declaration was crucial evidence in arresting Khan.