The Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction of a woman’s husband and son for burning her to death nearly twenty-five years ago, calling the evidence a “foolproof” chain that firmly established their guilt.
A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Vimal Kumar Yadav dismissed the appeal filed by the two men against their 2002 conviction for the murder of Gian Kaur. Her husband, Didar Singh, died during the pendency of the appeal, while her son, Maan Singh, has been absconding.
At the start of the judgment, the court reflected on the sanctity of a mother-child bond, noting that a mother carries her child “for nine months in her belly, three years in her arms, and forever in her heart.” Quoting the popular line “Poot kapoot sune hai par na maata sunee kumaata”, the bench observed that one may hear of bad sons, but never a bad mother.
The judges remarked that for allegations of murder and destruction of evidence to arise within such a relationship, “it would have to be something truly grave and devastating.”
The court held that Gian Kaur’s death was neither accidental nor suicidal. She had suffered 100 per cent burns after being found engulfed in flames on the terrace of her home in April 2000.
Her daughter and son Maan Singh rushed her to Safdarjung Hospital, where she died the same day. Before her death, she gave a detailed dying declaration to both the attending doctor and a magistrate. In it, she named her husband and son as the ones who poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze.
The bench said the declaration was consistent, voluntary and free from influence or fabrication. “The deceased had no reason to name her grown-up son or husband to falsely implicate them. She had nothing to gain,” the court noted, adding that the statement left “no room” to challenge the conclusion.
Counsel for the convicts argued that there was no motive for a husband and son to kill the woman, calling the allegation outrageous. The court rejected this reasoning, observing that if harm befalls a mother at the hands of her own son, there must be a “very drastic reason,” and the absence of an articulated motive does not dilute clear and cogent evidence.
All material on record — including eyewitness accounts of the victim being found in flames, medical reports, and the dying declaration — formed a complete chain pointing unerringly to the guilt of Didar Singh and Maan Singh, the bench concluded.
Although the exact sentence imposed by the trial court was not recorded in the appeal, the offence of murder under the IPC carries a minimum punishment of life imprisonment and a maximum of death.
With the appeal dismissed, the conviction stands affirmed in full.
