MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has confirmed the conviction and life sentence awarded to a man for murdering his wife in July 2010.
A bench comprising Justices S Vaidyanathan and N Anand Venkatesh passed the order while dismissing an appeal filed by one Govindaraj of Theni challenging the order passed by a Fast Track Mahila Court in Theni in June 2017.
The judges refused to accept the contentions of Govindaraj that the dying declaration of his wife, in which she had stated that Govindaraj set her ablaze, was a tutored one. They cited the maxim, 'nemo mariturus presumuntur mentri' which means 'a man will not meet his maker with a lie on his mouth' and held, "When a person is on the verge of his/her death, no such false story can be penned down or concocted by that person."
They confirmed the life sentence and directed Govindaraj to surrender before the concerned judicial magistrate to undergo his sentence with further directions to the police to secure him if he fails to surrender. Govindaraj attacked and set fire to his wife in July 2010, after she told him to redeem her pledged jewellery.