Lucknow, July 30 -- Rejecting the defence that a woman could have sustained burns while sprinkling seasoning for vegetables during the cooking process, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has upheld the conviction of her husband in a 34-year-old dowry death case dating back to June 1991.

Noting that the signs of the woman saving herself had not been found, Justice Rajnish Kumar passed the judgment on July 25. The high court dismissed the criminal appeal filed by the appellant Jai Shankar Shukla (the husband) of Unnao district against the verdict of the trial court, which had convicted him under Section 304-B (dowry death) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment.

The court observed, "Thus, ...