Pune man gets seven years' rigorous imprisonment for feeding wife blade pieces as 'calcium' pills

A court in Pune has sentenced a man to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 70,000 for attempting to kill his wife after suspecting her character. He had fed her pieces of a blade in capsules, telling her they were calcium tablets.

The accused is Somnath Sadhu Sapkal, 45. The case dates to 2023, when a case was registered against him at Uttamnagar police station. The court of Additional Sessions Judge Aniruddha Gandhi held him guilty on the basis of medical evidence and the statements of other witnesses.

The incident took place in October 2023. The wife developed severe stomach pain, and pieces of blade passed out of her body twice. As the pain worsened, she was admitted to hospital on November 8. Tests found a piece of blade inside her stomach. The investigation showed that her husband had done it all, and police then arrested him.

During the trial, the wife denied the allegations against her husband. She also said the quarrel between the two was over. She thus turned away from her earlier statement. The court nevertheless gave its verdict on the basis of the medical evidence.

Public Prosecutor Pathak appeared for the prosecution and had seven witnesses examined. Doctors testified that the piece of blade was life-threatening and could have killed the woman. Pathak argued that the doctors' testimony and the other evidence gathered in the investigation were enough to prove the accused's guilt. He said the accused may have pressured his wife, which was why she changed her statement in court. A witness's entire testimony cannot be rejected merely because the witness has turned hostile, he said, and the accused should therefore be convicted and sentenced on the evidence available.

In its judgment, the court wrote that the woman currently lives with the accused and is dependent on him. In view of this, it said, rigorous imprisonment for a fixed term and a fine would be sufficient in place of life imprisonment. On that basis he was sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 70,000.