Man gets 5-year RI for bid to kill wife in Thane

Thane, Aug 20 (PTI) A court in Thane has sentenced a man to five years' rigorous imprisonment for trying to kill his wife by attacking her with a paper cutter in 2023.

It is clear that the accused caused injuries to his wife with an intention to kill her, and had the bystanders not rushed her to hospital for treatment, she may have died, Additional Sessions Judge-1, Suryakant S Shinde said in the order on August 14.

A copy of the order was made available on Wednesday.

The prosecution alleged that the accused, Ashish Waman Dongardive (33), assaulted his wife Rajnandini Narayan Tayde on December 13, 2023, with a paper cutter, with an intention to kill her, after obstructing her movement and threatening her.

The victim, who worked as a guard at the Thane Municipal Corporation, got married to the accused in February 2023. From May that year, the couple started having frequent fights.

The woman alleged that her husband subjected her to domestic violence under the influence of liquor, leading her to file a complaint earlier. Since November 2023, she had been living separately with her father.

On the night of December 13, 2023, after failing to find her at her workplace, the accused went to her father's home and abused him.

Later, while the victim was returning home by an autorickshaw, the accused obstructed her vehicle.

A dispute erupted when he demanded she return to cohabitate. He then allegedly assaulted on her neck with a paper cutter, threatening he would kill her and himself.

Some bystanders intervened, and the woman was rushed to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa area.

The investigation included a spot panchanama, the accused's arrest, and the seizure of the paper cutter. Charges were framed on December 19, 2024. The prosecution presented seven witnesses, including the victim, some eyewitnesses and a medical officer.

The defense claimed false implication, asserting the injury was accidental from a fall on to the autorickshaw.

The judge, however, found the accused guilty on charges of attempt to murder, wrongful restraint, intentional insult and criminal intimidation.

From the evidence, it is clear the accused assaulted the woman with a paper cutter and caused grievous injury on her neck, the court noted.

"It is also clear that the accused caused the said injury with such intention to kill the complainant (victim)," it said.

"From the evidence it also appears that, if the bystanders would not have rescued the complainant and immediately shifted her to hospital for treatment, the victim may have died because of the injury," the court said.

The prosecution has proved the accused had obstructed the woman's autorickshaw, pulled her out of it and assaulted her on the neck by a paper cutter, it said.

"If the accused is shown leniency in this matter, there is every possibility of danger to the life of the victim," the court said while sentencing him to five years' rigorous imprisonment. PTI COR GK