BSP MP Dhananjay Singh’s wife Jagriti Singh, who along with her husband was charge-sheeted in the murder case of their maid, told a court in New Delhi on Saturday that she cannot be charged for the offence of murder due to lack of any such evidence to establish the motive.
During the arguments on framing of charges, the counsel appearing for Ms. Jagriti told Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma that there was no evidence on record to establish the intention or motive behind the injuries allegedly given by the accused to the victim.
Her counsel argued that Ms. Jagriti cannot be charged for the offence under section 302 (murder) of the IPC. The court fixed May 6 for hearing further arguments on the point of framing of charges.
During the proceeding, the court granted exemption from personal appearance only for the day to Dhananjay, an MP from Jaunpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
He was recently granted one week temporary bail in the case by Supreme Court to file his nomination for the Lok Sabha election. Ms. Jagriti, a dental surgeon at a government hospital here, is presently in jail under judicial custody.
Mr. Dhananjay was charge-sheeted for various offenses under the IPC, including for alleged destruction of evidence and abatement of the offenses of murder and attempt to murder. Ms. Jagriti was charge-sheeted for offenses under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 344 (wrongfully confining for 10 or more days), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC.
The couple were arrested on November 5 last year in connection with the death of their 35-year-old maid Rakhi Bhadra, a resident of West Bengal. The police, in its charge sheet, had alleged that Ms. Jagriti used to “mercilessly beat” her three domestic helps and had “compelled” them to work by holding them captive.
Rakhi’s body, with injury marks on her legs, chest and arms, was recovered from Mr. Dhananjay’s South Avenue residence in the evening of November 4, 2013.
Earlier, police had charge-sheeted Mr. Dhananjay in a separate case for allegedly repeatedly raping a 42-year-old railway employee for nearly four years.
