'1,000 husbands' remark 'grave provocation': HC cuts life term of man for killing wife

NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh high court has reduced the life sentence of a man convicted of killing his 7-month-pregnant wife to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment, holding that the assault was not premeditated but was triggered by a "sudden and grave provocation" after she allegedly told him she "can keep a thousand husbands" like him. In its June 18 verdict, a division bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and Avanindra Kumar Singh observed that the woman's remark was an indirect reference to the "worthlessness" of her husband, implying that "he has no value as a human being or a husband," and therefore could be treated as a case of sudden and grave provocation. According to the prosecution, Shiva Kahar, a resident of Chaurai block in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district, killed his wife Kiran on September 18, 2021. Kiran, who was seven months pregnant at the time, died after Kahar allegedly struck her on the head with a stone during an argument. In his statement, Kahar said the couple had quarrelled on the day of the incident, during which Kiran allegedly remarked, "I will have a thousand husbands like you." Enraged by the comment, he picked up a stone lying nearby and hit her on the head, causing her death. He later informed his father-in-law about the incident and also reported it to the police. "Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, we find that it was not a pre-meditated offence," PTI quoted the bench saying. The court further observed, "When a wife refers to her husband that 'she can keep thousand husbands like him', it is indirect/oblique reference to worthlessness of the husband... Therefore, it can be termed as a sudden and grave provocation." A trial court in Chhindwara had convicted Kahar and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, the high court partly allowed his appeal, holding that the offence did not amount to murder committed with the intention to kill.