PRAYAGRAJ, Oct. 24 -- : The Allahabad High Court upheld the life sentences of a husband and his parents for the murder of a woman who died of burn injuries, holding that her dying declaration could not be disbelieved merely because all prosecution witnesses of fact had turned hostile during the trial.

A division bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Jai Krishna Upadhyay, in its October 16 order, observed that there could be instances where prosecution witnesses were won over, either emotionally or through material benefits.

However, the court acquitted two other accused, Vipin and Madan, after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish their identities. It noted that neither the informant nor any other prosecution witn...