Being a woman is not a criterion for granting bail, says Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court in a major ruling has refused to grant bail to a woman alleged to have stabbed her husband to death, and said that being a woman cannot be considered to be a criterion for granting of bail.

The wife is accused of slitting the throat of her husband for questioning the illegal affair.

The bench headed by Justice Mohammad Nawaz gave the order on Monday while looking into the petition of the accused, Dilli Rani.

The bench put aside the argument of the counsel that considering the fact that the accused is a woman, she should be granted bail. 

Rani has been in judicial custody since September 24, 2022. She had challenged the order of 63rd Additional Civil and Sessions Court which had rejected her bail plea.

The bench maintained that because she was injured in the incident, the accused Dilli Rani could not be considered as innocent. Her husband Shankar Reddy was killed at the residence where Dilli Rani and their two minor children lived. The statements of three witnesses confirms the illegal affair of the wife with the second accused in the case. Because Shankar Raddy was a roadblock to the illegal affair, he is being killed. The accused had injured herself after the incident and hidden her jewels to misguide the investigation.

The police have recovered ear rings, mangalya chain and night wear of the accused which has blood stains on it, the bench stated.

The minor boy had given a statement that after waking up, he saw his father in a pool of blood. There was a fight between accused Dilli Rani and deceased Shankar Reddy.

The crime is of serious nature and bail can't be granted just because she is a woman, said the court.

Dilli Rani and husband R. Shankar Reddy were married with two kids. Dilli Rani had an affair. Shankar Reddy was working in Bengaluru and his family stayed in Andhra Pradesh. He had shifted his family to Bengaluru for the sake of his children's education. The accused and her lover hatched a conspiracy to kill Shankar Reddy. On February 24, 2022, the accused slit the throat of Shankar Reddy while he was asleep and later made an attempt to project it as a murder for gain.

The Yeshwanthpur police, which registered a case of murder on strangers, cracked the case and arrested Dilli Rani and her lover.