A 45-year-old barber residing in the Shivane area of Pune has been sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of attempting to murder his wife. Additional Sessions Judge Aniruddha Gandhi delivered the verdict on Friday, concluding a trial that centered on a harrowing domestic attempt on a woman's life using makeshift, dangerous objects. The accused, identified as Somnath, was convicted under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 498A (cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code.
The case surfaced in November 2023 when the victim filed a formal police complaint. According to the investigation, the woman had been suffering from persistent abdominal pain for several months. Her situation reached a critical point in November 2023 when her condition deteriorated significantly, forcing her children to rush her to a hospital for urgent medical attention. During the subsequent diagnostic procedures, doctors performed a CT scan that revealed the presence of a sharp metallic fragment inside her body. An endoscopic surgical procedure was later required to safely remove the piece.
In her initial statement to the police, the woman alleged that her husband had been physically and mentally abusive toward her for a significant period. She claimed that he had suddenly adopted a facade of concern, offering her capsules under the pretense that they were calcium supplements meant to alleviate her chronic leg pain. She suspected that these capsules had been surreptitiously tampered with by her husband to include shards of razor blades, a method she believed was intended to cause her fatal internal injuries.
The prosecution's case was bolstered by physical evidence recovered from the couple’s residence, including antibiotic capsule strips and additional razor blade fragments. Investigators also secured statements from the medical professionals who treated the woman, as well as the chemist who had supplied the medication. These pieces of evidence proved to be vital during the judicial proceedings, which faced complications when the victim and her son turned hostile during the trial, effectively retracting their original claims.
Despite the lack of cooperation from the key witnesses, the court found the medical evidence to be overwhelming. The physician who performed the endoscopic surgery testified that the ingestion of such sharp fragments would invariably lead to severe internal trauma. The court also took note of the fact that the victim did not exhibit the internal damage typical of someone who had consumed such sharp objects with food, which supported the theory that the blades had been ingested inside capsules, which could protect the throat and esophagus until the outer coating dissolved.
To verify the feasibility of the crime, the court conducted a specific demonstration to see if it was indeed possible to insert razor blade fragments into standard medicine capsules. The success of this demonstration helped convince the judge of the accused's intent. Assistant Public Prosecutor L R Pathak argued that the accused had likely exerted pressure on the family members to alter their testimonies, a factor that the court considered while delivering the sentencing.
The accused had attempted to shift the blame during the proceedings, suggesting that his wife might have accidentally consumed contaminated food while dining at a restaurant. However, this defense failed to hold up against the corroborated medical records and the physical evidence seized by the police. Following the guilty verdict, the court sentenced the barber to seven years of imprisonment, marking a definitive conclusion to a case that began with the discovery of blade pieces in the victim's stool during the months of October and November 2023.
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