New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday upheld life sentences to a man and his mother for killing his wife for dowry. The court also regretted the stand of the girl's family, saying the case shows discrimination against the girl child still exists in Indian society.

Dismissing the appeal of Balbir Singh and Kamla Devi against their conviction by the trial court for Pinki's murder in 2002, a division bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Suresh Kait said: 'Wrought with discrimination and prejudiced by rituals, Indian society has dealt the girl child a rough hand, starting even before her birth and ending with the dusk of her life'.

'Amidst uproar of gender equality and law enforcement, female infants are found dumped in the trash by the dozens, and unborn female foetuses continue to be sniffed out in the womb,' it said.

Referring to Pinki's family failing to support the police contention of dowry harassment in the trial court, the bench said: 'The present case highlights the unfortunate plight of the girl child where the parents and siblings of the deceased girl betrayed the love and trust reposed by her in them by helping her wrongdoers to go scot free'.

Dismissing the husband and mother-in-law's submission that Pinki committed suicide and burn marks on her were sustained while cooking, the court said: 'The appellants had taken a false defence by leading evidence to the effect that the burn injuries found on the chest of the deceased were sustained by her when she fell on a hot object while cooking'.

The court observed that it was a settled legal principle that the circumstance of a false defence by the accused could be added to the complete chain of the circumstances appearing against them to reinforce their guilt.