An Indian man and his mother were on Wednesday found liable for the death of his late wife whose death said to be suicide by hanging.
An inquest found that Nikesh Senghani and his elderly mother Debai Senghani were both liable for the death of 27-year-old Vanita Nikesh and recommended for their prosecution.
Vanita’s body was found by her mother-in-law and some neighbours who told court that she was suspended by the neck using a piece of cloth, at house number one of Block 1, at the Swaminarayan Temple flats, along the Southern bypass, off Langata road.
Magistrate Elector Riany ruled that it was clear that this was not a normal death and there was a lot of cover up going on in the case meaning there was foul play.
“Nikesh Senghani and his mother Debai Harji Senghani are found liable for the death of Vanita and the DPP to take necessary action against them in accordance with the law,” the court ruled.
The court noted that Nikesh mother who was Vanita’s mother-in-law was not an honest witness during her testimony as she kept saying either I don’t know and I do not remember
“She turned out not to be an honest witness because she claimed that she accessed the deceased through her bedroom window but upon scene visit it was found that the window was too high for her to reach,” the court said.
Magistrate Riany said the court was also informed that Debai requested the Investigating officer to quickly dispose of Vanita’s body as they didn’t want many cases.
“It’s questionable what the rush was about and what cases she was referring to and it’s obvious that everyone would have wanted to know the deceased cause of death,” she said.
The court also noted that when contacted by the deceased mother she doesn’t give her any information or inform her family of her death and it took third parties for the deceased family to know of her death and they were also never involved in her burial.
The deceased mother told court that to date they have never been told what transpired despite asking questions.
Nikesh told court that they had normal couple disagreements and when he left her she was okay but was later called by his mother who told him that she had hanged herself.
The court was told how the deceased and the husband had been married for over five years but their marriage was not rosy to the extent that the husband was sleeping in the sitting room
The court was informed of how in over a year the couple had not paid their rent and electricity bills for over 20 months.
Nikesh friend also told court something very interesting after the deceased death, Nikesh called him and told him to say what transpired on the material day safe for the fight between him and the deceased
“If it was a normal marital fight then there was no reason to hide the same this thus explains the marks on the deceased face,” the court said.
It was also noted that after the fight, Nikesh is even taking two bottles of beer very early in the morning and this is in a span of five minutes and the court was informed that he was tensed and the friend informed court that on this day he was behaving differently.
“The deceased death leaves a lot to be desired this were people who were married but not happy constant fights marred the marriage as testified by the next door neighbour,” the court noted.
Nikesh was also portrayed as an irresponsible man who didn’t provide for his family as required failed to pay rent and even their bills. He would even resort to his mother-in-law for financial assistance.
At some point the late Vanita even sold her jewellery so as to run the house and she is even denied airtime and a third party has to be sent to take the same to her so that she is able to communicate with her family.
“If at all she did hang herself as alleged then did she also injure herself photos were availed in court confirming the injuries yet the people who were first to interact with the body denied seeing the injuries,” the court noted
