Dowry case: Accused gets 10-year-sentence

PANAJI: In an 11-year-old dowry case, the court of the additional sessions judge has sentenced Caitaninho Julio Barretto, a former government servant, to 10-years imprisonment for subjecting his newly-married wife, a gold medal awardee in mathematics and head of department at a college, to cruelty and harassment for dowry, leading to her death.
Public prosecutor R D’Souza has stated that a maximum sentence should be imposed on the accused considering the fact that the victim committed suicide within a short time after their marriage.
“Evidence on record shows that the harassment meted out to the victim by the accused started immediately after their marriage and it was, at times, in public. In view of this, I am of the opinion that sentencing the accused to imprisonment for a period of 10 years would meet the ends of justice for the offence punishable under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code,” additional sessions judge Sherin Paul stated in her judgement.
The prosecution stated that the accused mentally and physically harassed his wife and subjected her to such cruelty that, between September 2008 and April 2009, she was forced to leave her matrimonial house. He abetted her suicide as she failed to fulfill his demands for dowry, the prosecution said.
The accused, meanwhile, claimed that his wife was murdered. He further said that the charges against him were false and not probable as his wife was not cohabiting with him.
Witnesses deposed that the accused started harassing the deceased soon after their marriage. He forced her to withdraw her fixed deposits or transfer them to his name. It was further stated that he used to keep her out of the house or drag her out and beat her in front of the neighbours. Witnesses stated that the accused also beat the victim at the KTC bus stand, Panaji, in full view of the public and students, when she was proceeding to college. She managed to escape, and with her father and brother, lodged a complaint at the Old Goa police station. The accused had also demanded that she bring her brother’s car to her matrimonial house.