Mumbai: Man kills son for not calling 2nd wife 'mother', gets life term

The incident took place in Dongri in August 2018. Representation pic

A court in Mumbai sentenced a man to imprisonment for life for murdering his son. The incident took place in August 2018 in the Dongri area of south Mumbai. The accused, identified as Salim Shaikh, was held guilty by the additional sessions judge, S D Tawshikar, on Monday. The judge stated that the prosecution has successfully proved that he was the only "author of the offence".

The victim in this case was identified as Imran. The case pertains to a complaint filed by Imran's mother (Shaikh's first wife). As per a complaint, Shaikh had an argument with his son, which later turned to an assault after Imran refused to address his second wife as ‘mother'.

According to the complaint, Shaikh had attacked Imran with a sharp weapon, injuring him grievously. He was declared dead at a hospital. The defence counsel, appearing for Shaikh, claimed the victim was under the influence of drugs and had committed suicide by injuring himself with a sharp weapon.

The defence, citing the post-mortem report, said that some injuries on the victim's body were self-inflicted. The court, however, disregarded the arguments and noted that the victim's mother would not have rushed to the police station if he had attempted suicide. The court also noted that the accused fled the scene following the incident, instead staying with his injured son and taking him to a hospital.

Terming it a rarest-of-rare case, the prosecution had sought a death sentence for the accused. The court, however, held that though the prosecution was right in "saying that causing the murder of one's own son in itself is a rarest of rare case", this instance does not fit in the "rarest-of-rare" category carved out by the Supreme Court. "Hence, considering overall circumstances, I find that it would be just and proper to award a sentence of imprisonment for life," the judge said.

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