A single judge bench of Justice Prakash D Naik on October 19 passed an order on the bail plea of accused Ahilyabai Vishnu Kal (File Photo)The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to a woman from Nashik, who was arrested for allegedly murdering her niece in 2020.
The deceased had been living with the accused, who was her maternal aunt, following a quarrel with her husband. While staying with her aunt, the deceased allegedly developed a relationship with her son and became pregnant.
During a family wedding, the deceased had visited her husband’s house, where he got to know that she was five-month pregnant.
After the deceased’s mother confronted the accused, her sister, about the pregnancy, the latter got angry and allegedly caused injuries to the deceased, who died during treatment at a hospital the next day.
A single judge bench of Justice Prakash D Naik on October 19 passed an order on the bail plea of accused Ahilyabai Vishnu Kale, who was arrested for offences punishable under sections 302 (murder) and 314 (punishment for an act causing death of a woman with an intention to cause the miscarriage of a woman with child). The FIR was registered at Yeola City police station in Nashik.
Ahilyabai was arrested after Sangitabai Bhorkade, her real sister, lodged a complaint on August 1, 2020 that her daughter Shakuntala was assaulted by Ahilyabai causing her death.
The court was told that on the day of the incident on July 13, 2020, Ahilyabai and Sangitabai had a quarrel over the latter claiming the accused’s son was responsible for pregnancy. In a fit of rage, Ahilyabai allegedly dragged Shakuntala, who was sleeping on a cot, by holding her legs. The deceased fell down on the floor and sustained injuries to her head and became unconscious. She was taken to hospital by Ahilyabai, where she died during treatment.
Ahilyabai’s advocate Heena Mistry submitted that she was in custody for over two years since August 1, 2020 while the probe was complete with chargesheet filed and that she has been falsely implicated in the case. Mistry said there was delay in lodging of FIR and that the medical case papers indicate the victim had fallen in the bathroom.
After perusing submissions and material on record, Justice Naik observed, “…When the victim was taken for treatment there are notings which indicate that she had slipped in the bathroom and suffered injuries. There has been a delay in lodging the FIR. The applicant is in custody for a period of about two years. Prima facie, assuming the allegations in the FIR to be true, the applicant cannot be attributed offence of committing murder. Considering the factual aspects, bail can be granted to the applicant and application is allowed.”