NEW DELHI - A 95-year-old woman, who was acquitted by a trial court for burning her daughter-in-law and infant grandson to death in 1996, has been given a life sentence by the Delhi High Court in the Indian capital, reported Indo-Asian News Service Tuesday.

The division bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Sunil Gaur, in an order made available Tuesday, said that the accused, Sumitra, should be taken into custody, forfeiting her bail bond.

The bench relied upon the dying declaration of Meenu, the accused's daughter-in-law, while convicting the nonagenarian, said the report.

"Finding the dying declaration of Meenu to be inspiring utmost confidence, with no iota of doubt about her mental faculty, we unhesitatingly rely upon it to hold that the charge of murder stands proved beyond doubt against the accused, as she was instrumental in setting Meenu on fire," the court said in its 14- page judgment delivered Monday.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by the Delhi Police against the acquittal.

On March 20, 1996, Meenu and her infant, aged about seven months, sustained burn injuries in her house. She had married Sanjay, Sumitra's son, about one-and-a-half years before the murder.

After Meenu and her child died of burns, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were accused of murder.

Meenu's statement, which was recorded in question and answer form, became the dying declaration and the foundation of the prosecution case.