'I remember everything clearly': 7-year-old's testimony exposes father in mother's dowry death case

Aligarh (UP): A local court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his wife over dowry demands, with the conviction largely based on the testimony of their four-year-old son.

In a judgment delivered on July 14, Additional District Judge Sanjay Yadav found Akhilesh guilty of killing his 32-year-old wife, Savitri, on February 10, 2022, at their home in Nagla Banjara village, under the jurisdiction of Gabhana police station.

Calling it a landmark case, the judge highlighted the “clinching and consistent” testimony of the couple’s son, Atul, who was just four years old at the time and was present in the house when the incident took place.

The court noted that while all other witnesses, including the victim's own mother, Lilawati and brother Ramavatar, retracted their original statements, the forensic evidence and the child's account matched precisely in terms of the timeline and cause of death.

The postmortem had ruled out suicide and confirmed strangulation as the cause of death, contradicting the claims made by the accused and his family.

Atul, who was only four at the time of the incident, informed the court that his father was at home on the day of the death, contrary to what other family members testified.

“I will never lie because I remember everything clearly,” Atul said during his deposition, according to the judgment.

The court also took a serious view of the conduct of the victim's brother, Ramavatar, who initially filed a dowry death complaint against Akhilesh but later supported the accused's claim that he was not in the village when the incident occurred.

According to the prosecution, Savitri endured years of domestic violence because her family was unable to meet dowry demands, which included a motorcycle. She had been married for 12 years before her death.

Despite widespread witness retractions, the judge said the forensic and medical evidence, reinforced by the “truthful and unwavering” testimony of Atul, left no doubt about the guilt of the accused.

Family sources said the child is currently living with his paternal grandparents in the same village. PTI