Noida, Feb 2 (PTI) A court in Gautam Buddh Nagar sentenced a Noida resident to life term in jail for stabbing his pregnant wife to death over dowry demand.

The matter relates to the killing of Shadab Parveen, 32, by her husband Movin Akhtar, 40, on August 10, 2013. Parveen was eight-month pregnant when she was killed and the couple had been married for six years by then, according to a case lawyer.

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The accused was convicted by the Additional District and Sessions Court on Thursday in judgment by Ran Vijay Pratap Singh, prosecution lawyer Nitin Kumar Tyagi said.

"On behalf of the prosecution, it was stated that the deceased used to be harassed by the convicted accused for dowry. She was murdered when his demands were not fulfilled by the victim's family members," the judge observed.

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"She was killed within six years of her marriage by the person who had taken the responsibility of protecting her. The victim's family had sent their daughter to be married to the accused so that he would take care of her. But the same man murdered his wife due to his greed," the judge noted.

The defence argued that Akhtar has been in jail since his arrest after the incident and sought leniency on the ground that he had no criminal history until this episode, was young and supports his elderly parents.

"His conduct during jail period has been such that no complaint has been made by the district jail to any authority. Therefore, a request was made to give minimum punishment to the accused," the judge noted.

In the present case, the court found that the charge of Section 302 IPC against the accused was proved beyond reasonable doubt and convicted him under the said provision.

In its decision, the court also found that the accused was guilty of the offence under Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.

"In view of the above and keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, the court finds it justified to punish the convicted with the following punishment," the judge said.

Akhtar was sentenced to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 10,000, according to the order.

In case of non-payment of fine, he will have to undergo additional imprisonment of six months, the order added.

Additionally, he has been convicted under Dowry Prohibition Act, which is punishable with imprisonment for two years and fine of Rs 5000. All punishments would run concurrently, the order added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)