A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for brutally murdering his wife with a hammer in front of their children, relying heavily on the testimony of his 13-year-old daughter, who witnessed the crime.
Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal convicted the accused, Vijay Mishra alias Samir Shaikh, under Sections 302 (murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code.
The court sentenced him to life imprisonment along with a concurrent three-year jail term. It also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for the murder conviction and an additional Rs 10,000 for injuring his minor daughter and mother-in-law, both of whom had attempted to stop the attack.
Additional Public Prosecutor Rashmi Kshirsagar informed the court that 11 prosecution witnesses, including the couple’s daughter, testified during the trial.
According to the prosecution, the victim, Zarin Israr Ansari, had been living separately with her mother, daughter and six-year-old son for the past two years due to prolonged domestic disputes and alleged abuse.
The accused, who had converted to Islam and married Zarin nearly 14 years ago, reportedly resented her decision to live separately and harboured suspicions about her character.
On September 28, 2023, the accused allegedly arrived at his mother-in-law’s residence in Mumbra carrying a hammer concealed in a bag. Prosecutors said he cornered his wife on the mezzanine floor, dragged her downstairs, locked the main entrance and repeatedly attacked her.
The court upheld the testimony of the victim’s daughter, who was an eyewitness and suffered injuries during the incident, noting that minor inconsistencies in a child’s statement do not diminish its credibility.
The court observed that complete photographic recollection cannot be expected from a child witness and found her account of the incident to be trustworthy and free from reasonable doubt.
The prosecution also alleged that the accused locked family members inside the house and threatened neighbours by displaying a “bomb-like object”, warning that he would blow up the building if anyone intervened.
The victim’s brother eventually broke open the door, overpowered the accused and restrained him until police arrived at the spot.
A post-mortem examination later revealed that the victim suffered 22 severe injuries and died due to extensive head trauma.
