A 36-year-old man has been awarded three years' rigorous imprisonment by a court here in Maharashtra for harassing his wife and driving her to commit suicide.
District Judge R V Tamhanekar held the accused, Deepak Bhambhare, guilty last Saturday and also imposed a fine of Rs 7,000 on him.
The prosecution told the court that the accused, who worked in a tile-making factory and resided at Rajnoli village in Bhiwandi town, got married to the victim, Manisha, in 2005 and the couple had two sons.
The accused used to frequently beat his wife and demand money from her to raise a poultry farm and buy a television set.
Unable to bear the harassment, the woman consumed a poisonous substance on December 21, 2013 and died later during treatment, the prosecution said.
Based on a complaint by the victim's mother, police filed a case against the accused under the Indian Penal Code Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 498A (husband or his relative subjecting woman to cruelty), and arrested him.
The judge observed that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the man subjected his wife to cruelty because of which she took the step to end her life.
"So, the offence is of serious nature," the judge said while pronouncing the sentence.
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