Two women from Madhya Pradesh were sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and slapped with fine for cheating a speech-impaired man.
The court convicted Megha Bhargava, who married the man, and her sister, Prachi Sharma Bhargava, in the case.
The prosecution case was that the third accused, Mahendra Bundela from Madhya Pradesh, approached the family members of the man and made the marriage proposal with Megha after wilfully concealing the fact that she had married twice before.
According to the prosecution, after the marriage, which was held in Kochi, Megha escaped to Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She took along with her gifts like gold and diamond ornaments, watch, clothes, and ₹5.5 lakh in cash. Later, she got married to another person and duped him too, the prosecution submitted.
Eldos Mathew, the Judicial First Class Magistrate 8, ordered that the man shall be paid a compensation of ₹9.5 lakh. Lenin P. Sukumaran and S. Saiju, Assistant Public Prosecutors, appeared in the case, which was charged by the Kadavanthra police.
While convicting the women, the court noted that the accused had targeted only disabled persons, as they were vulnerable and incapacitated and, therefore, unable to react to atrocities committed against them. The law has to take its will to safeguard disabled persons from the wicked, the court noted.
It felt that no leniency shall be shown to the accused considering the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the nature and motive of the crime, and the manner in which it was planned and committed.
In default of payment of fine, each accused shall undergo simple imprisonment for a further period of nine months, the court ordered. Two others were acquitted in the case.
