New Delhi: A jilted lover who maimed the face of a woman who refused his marriage proposal has been denied relief by the Delhi High Court, which upheld the life sentence awarded to him by a trial court.
The court opined that all males who believe that all females on the street belong to their league and are available for play whenever they desire and upon being spurned by the females try to disfigure their faces "warrant imprisonment for life".
A bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Mukta Gupta took note of the extent of injuries received by the woman due to which she lost her power of speech for about three and a half years.
The beating she received was so severe that her face was disfigured due to "80 stitches" on the right side of her head, right cheek and right ear and her left hand's thumb was partly chopped.
Terming the incident as "the mad action of a mad lover", the court said such offences warrant the highest penalty prescribed - imprisonment for life.
In a recent judgment, the court said: "As regards the sentence, we are of the opinion that all males who believe that all females on the street belong to their league and are available for play whenever the males desire and upon being spurned by the females try to disfigure the face of the female, whether by using a corrosive substance such as acid or a butcher's knife, causing permanent damage to the face of the female, warrant the highest penalty prescribed, i.e., imprisonment for life."
As per the prosecution, Mahman Singh was the driver of the bus in which the victim used to travel to office. On Jan 21, 2007, brandishing a knife Mahman Singh compelled the victim to go along with him to his house when she was waiting for a bus. He asked her to marry him but she refused. On being spurned, Mahman started disfiguring her face with a butcher's knife.
However, Mahman Singh claimed that the victim and he were in love and wanted to get married. On the day of incident, the victim was in his house for his birthday celebrations when 5-6 boys came there. They dragged her and forced her to sit in a car. He further said that when he stopped them, the boys beat up both the victim and him.
Mahman Singh said that the victim deposed against him because her parents were not interested in her marrying him.
The court, however, relied on the victim's medico-legal case papers and her testimony as per which Mahman Singh had not desired neither to kill her, nor to stab her, inflicted incised wounds on her neck and the face with the obvious intention to permanently disfigure her face.
The court upheld the conviction under section 326 of the IPC (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons), and relieved him of the charge of attempt to murder.
The maximum punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt is a life sentence.
The court order came on a petition moved by Mahman Singh challenging the life imprisonment awarded to him by the trial court on attempt to murder charges.
(Garima Tyagi can be contacted at garima.t@ians.in )
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