123 Kolkata: Upholding the conviction of a Siliguri man who murdered his wife three days after childbirth, Calcutta High Court on Friday held that he did not just take the life of his wife but also "deprived the newborn from care, compassion, guidance of his mother throughout his life."Krishna Tewari, a resident of Siliguri, was convicted by the trial court in 2009 for murdering his wife and under section 498A of IPC as well as for causing disappearance of evidence. He was incarcerated for 13 years. Krishna moved the division bench of justices Rajarshi Bharadwaj and Apurba Sinha Ray, claiming he did not murder his wife Kusum, and the prosecution case had various loopholes, including difference in time of incident registered in the FIR and what was claimed by the witnesses, the absence of a rough sketch map indicating the place of occurrence by the IO, and the fact that no prosecution witness saw him murdering his wife.But the court noted that the body was found in the room where he was also present. The prosecution argued that in a case like this, the onus was on the convict to prove that he did not murder his wife. Krishna's counsel provided two possible reasons for the woman's death — complications from childbirth and a fall.The court dismissed them, noting that in case of medical issues, the husband would have been able to show where help was sought for complications of childbirth. Further, it was observed that the injuries did not seem to be due to a fall. Also, one of the prosecution witnesses submitted that Krishna was seen trying to cremate his wife by the riverside, but it was stopped by locals.The court held, "Section 300 of IPC lays down that if the assailant knows that his assault upon the victim, though, in the ordinary course may not cause death to such victim but in view of sickness or disability of the victim such degree of assault is sufficient to cause her death, such assault can be categorised as an offence of murder." It was noted that the wife was suffering from certain sickness on account of delivery of a child.Knowing that such sickness made her vulnerable and she may not sustain such fractured injuries caused by Krishna or the blow was sufficient to kill her, the husband's conviction was upheld. Since he has no criminal antecedents and has spent 13 years imprisoned, the court observed that he should be given an opportunity to pray for remission on completion of 14 years of imprisonment.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Brother's Day wishes, messages and quotes !