In Uttar Pradesh, a husband who tore open his wife’s womb to find out the sex of the unborn child was sentenced to life imprisonment. Additional District-Sessions Fast Track Court Judge Saurabh Saxena pronounced the sentence. The atrocity in the case took place on September 19, 2020. Pannelal attacked his wife Anita Devi who was eight months pregnant with a sickle. He committed the brutal crime after a priest told him that his wife was going to give birth to another baby girl.
Anita’s life was saved as the Budaun police rushed her to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi in time. But the baby in Anita’s stomach could not be saved.
The police registered a case against Pannalal under sections 307 and 313 of the Indian Penal Code. A charge sheet was filed in the case in 2021. The court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment observing that he had no fear of the law. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000. The court judgment considered that this is not only a crime against an individual, but against the society as well.
