Cannot grant bail merely because petitioner is woman: Karnataka High Court in case where woman was accused of killing husband
The Karnataka High Court recently declined to give bail to a woman who is accused of fatally stabbing her husband, saying that it could not do so due to the petitioner’s gender. “The offence alleged is grave in nature. Merely because the petitioner is a woman is not a ground to enlarge her on bail,” the Court said. A woman who had been arrested for murder, criminal conspiracy, and other IPC offences had requested bail before the court. Given the seriousness of the accused offence, Justice Mohammad Nawaz declined to issue bail.
In response to the petitioner’s attorney’s plea for bail given that the accused was a woman who had been incarcerated since last September, the Court stated that it could not release the woman solely on this basis. “At this point, the petitioner is facing a prima facie case. The claimed offence is serious in character. The Court stated that the petitioner’s gender alone is not a reason to increase her bail.
The Court further stated that it would be detrimental to the petitioner’s case to give release to a co-accused who was believed to have planned the murder. As a result, it denied the bail request. The woman and her lover (co-accused), according to the prosecution, reportedly planned to kill her husband in order to continue their illicit relationship.
While her husband was resting at home, the accused woman is suspected of stabbing him. She was also charged with using the same knife to cut herself in order to make the incident appear like a robbery.A case was initially brought against unidentified people after the landowners complained. But following an investigation, the woman and her partner were ultimately taken into custody.
The son of the accused woman said that his parents argued the night before his father passed away, and the court took this claim into account while denying the bail petition. The son reported that his father was discovered dead and stabbed in the morning. Advocate Sri Gopal represented the petitioner, and High Court Government Pleader RD Renukaradhya represented the respondent.
Read the Order Below