Madhya Pradesh High Court Upholds Life Sentence of Former Professor Convicted in Husband’s Murder

Jabalpur, July 30 — The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of Mamta Pathak, a 64-year-old former chemistry professor from Chhatarpur, who was found guilty of murdering her husband, Dr. Neeraj Pathak, under suspicious circumstances in 2021.

A division bench comprising Justices Vivek Agrawal and Devnarayan Mishra dismissed Pathak’s appeal, affirming the June 2022 judgment of the Chhatarpur district court. The court rejected her defense, which heavily relied on her scientific background and technical objections to the forensic evidence presented during trial.

Initially, local police had suggested accidental electrocution as the cause of death. However, forensic analysis and post-mortem findings later pointed toward deliberate foul play, prompting investigators to file charges of murder.

Medical evidence confirmed that Dr. Pathak died due to electrocution. The post-mortem report cited cardiorespiratory failure and multiple electric burns as indicators of cause of death. During the appeal hearing in April, Mamta Pathak chose to represent herself, invoking academic arguments based on scientific literature and forensic science.

She contested the findings, arguing that thermal and electrical burns can appear visually similar and that proper metallurgical analysis—such as acro reactions or scanning electron microscopy—was not performed. She further questioned the estimated time of death, pointing out that the absence of visible putrefaction contradicted the claim that the body had been deceased for 36 to 72 hours prior to examination.

Quoting from medical jurisprudence and forensic toxicology texts, Pathak argued that variables such as decomposition rates, humidity, and environmental conditions were not adequately factored into the conclusions.

Despite her composed and scientifically framed arguments—snippets of which gained traction on social media—the High Court found her reasoning insufficient to overturn the conviction. The bench observed that decomposition timelines are influenced by diverse climatic conditions, rendering any fixed putrefaction estimate unreliable. The court also accepted expert testimony from renowned forensic pathologist Dr. D.S. Badkur, who affirmed that signs of death by electric shock may develop slowly, depending on voltage exposure and the physiological response.

Following the district court ruling in 2022, Pathak was granted interim bail on humanitarian grounds to care for her mentally challenged child. However, the High Court ruled that the crime was both premeditated and grave in nature, referencing Supreme Court precedents in support of its decision.

The court ordered her immediate surrender to serve the remainder of her life sentence.