HC upholds conviction & life sentence of man for wife's murder based on dying declaration

Cuttack: The Orissa high court upheld the conviction and life sentence of a man for the murder of his wife by relying on her dying declaration as key evidence.
The incident took place under Bari Ramchandrapur police station limits on Nov 14, 2011, when the accused poured kerosene on his wife and set her ablaze.
She succumbed to her injuries on Dec 9, 2011, at a govt hospital in Cuttack.
The trial court in Jajpur convicted the man on Jan 6, 2014, under Sections 302 (murder), 498A (cruelty), 304B (dowry death) of the IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. The conviction was primarily based on the dying declaration made by his wife to a doctor at the hospital.
The jail criminal appeal filed by the convict in the same year was pending until the high court delivered the judgment on May 27, 2025.
The division bench, comprising Justices S K Sahoo and Savitri Ratho, said, "We are not only satisfied that the victim was in a fit state of mind to make the statement, but also that the dying declaration was true, voluntary and not influenced by any extraneous consideration and therefore, on the sole basis of the dying declaration, conviction of the appellant can be sustained.
"
The bench emphasised the legal sanctity of dying declarations, stating that a person on the verge of death is unlikely to fabricate a statement.
In the case in hand, as per the dying declaration, the appellant came home drunk, poured kerosene on her and set her on fire. Hearing her screams, her parents-in-law came to her rescue, put out the fire and took her to the hospital. "Hence, absence of motive in these circumstances will not be a ground to disbelieve the dying declaration, as it is otherwise reliable," the bench observed.
The bench further observed that while there were no witnesses to the incident, the dying declaration was corroborated by the medical certificate and the doctor's testimony, which were not challenged during cross-examination.
The prosecution's case regarding dowry demand and harassment was not supported by the deceased's relatives or co-villagers, leading the high court to set aside the convictions under Sections 498A and 304B of the IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. However, the bench confirmed the conviction under Section 302 of the IPC, affirming the trial court's judgment.

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