Thane man gets 10 years in jail for stabbing estranged wife, attacking rescuer

A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a 32-year-old autorickshaw driver to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for attempting to murder his estranged wife and stabbing a man who tried to save her, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The 2021 knife attack left the woman with 40 per cent permanent disability in both hands. The court also imposed fines totalling Rs 30,000 and ordered compensation for the victim and an eyewitness.

Additional Sessions Judge V L Bhosale on Thursday convicted Nazim Daud Khan under sections 307, relating to attempt to murder, and 324, relating to voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons or means, of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the prosecution, Khan married Rubina in 2016 and the couple had two sons. Khan was addicted to ganja and physically abused his wife, prompting her to move in with her parents eight months before the attack.

On November 29, 2021, Khan visited his in-laws' mattress workshop and demanded that his wife return home. After she refused, he left but returned half an hour later and attacked her with a knife.

The prosecution said Khan chased Rubina, sat on her chest and stabbed her repeatedly. He also stabbed Mohammad Isak, a worker nearby, when he tried to intervene. Passersby eventually overpowered Khan, and Rubina was taken to hospital.

Rubina suffered several cut wounds that caused 40 per cent permanent disability in both hands, PTI reported, citing the prosecution.

The court said the intention behind the attack could be determined by the nature of the weapon, the body parts targeted, the number and force of the blows, the manner of the attack and the surrounding circumstances.

Khan was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 20,000 under section 307. He was also sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 under section 324. Both sentences will run concurrently.

The court directed that Rs 20,000 from the recovered fine be paid to Rubina as compensation and Rs 5,000 to the eyewitness. It also referred the matter to the District Legal Services Authority in Thane for additional compensation under the Maharashtra Victim Compensation Scheme.

Khan will serve concurrent prison terms, with the longer sentence being 10 years, for the knife attack on his wife and the man who intervened.- Ends