MP HC upholds life term of ex-chemistry professor for murdering her doctor husband by electrocution
Jabalpur, July 30 (PTI): The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld the life imprisonment of former chemistry professor Mamta Pathak, who had argued her case using scientific knowledge, for murdering her doctor husband by electrocution in Chhatarpur district in 2021.
A division bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and Devnarayan Mishra on Tuesday upheld the life imprisonment handed down by the Chhatarpur court.
Mamta's husband, Dr. Neeraj Pathak, died on April 29, 2021, at his house in Loknathpuram Colony with electric burn marks detected on his body.
He was posted in the Chhatarpur District Hospital.
The HC said the entire chain of circumstances indicates that the wife first made the husband unconscious by giving him sedatives and later killed him by electrocution.
The division bench, while cancelling the temporary suspension of the sentence earlier, directed the accused to immediately surrender in the trial court to serve the remainder of the imprisonment.
In April this year, the high court reserved its verdict after hearing the arguments of all the parties.
The prosecution said Mamta Pathak had come to live with her husband only 10 months before his death and was present in the house at the time of the incident.
According to the HC, no other person came from outside on the day of the incident, the prosecution said.
The relationship between the couple was strained as she would often argue about her husband's affair with a woman.
Before noon on the day of the incident, Dr Neeraj called one of his relatives, claiming that his wife was torturing him, not giving him food and kept him locked inside the bathroom. He also talked about the head injury.
After this, the relative contacted the police and the doctor was rescued from the bathroom.
The relative gave the recording of this conversation to the police and also recorded a statement in court.
A court in Chhatarpur convicted Mamta Pathak based on the circumstantial evidence and sentenced her to life imprisonment. But she filed an appeal in the high court against the verdict.
While presenting her case in the high court in April this year, the former chemistry professor argued that the cause of the death in the post-mortem report was stated to be electric shock.
The burn marks found on the body of the deceased were of both types - electric and thermal, but their technical investigation was not done, she told the court.
Safety equipment like MCB and RCCB were installed in the house, due to which death due to a short circuit or current was not possible. Despite this, neither the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team nor any electrical expert was sent to the house to investigate, she argued in the court.
During the initial hearing, she argued the case on her own, but later he lawyers presented her side in the court.
In its 97-page order, the division bench upheld her life imprisonment, saying the entire chain of circumstantial evidence was interconnected.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
