SANTOSH KUMAR SINGH Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The deceased, Priyadarshini Mattoo, was residing with her parents at B-10/7098, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi and was a student of the LL.B. course at the University of Delhi Campus Law Centre, and had at the relevant time completed the 5th Semester and was in the final 6th Semester. The appellant, Santosh Kumar Singh had also been a student in the same faculty and had completed his LL.B. in December 1994. It appears that the appellant had been attracted to the deceased and even though he had passed out from the Law Centre in 1994, he had continued to visit the campus even thereafter on his Bullet Motorcycle bearing Registration Number DL-1S-E/1222.

(2.) As per the prosecution story, the appellant harassed and intimidated the deceased and despite her requests and then her remonstrations, did not desist from doing so. The deceased thereupon made several complaints against the appellant in different Police Stations during the year 1995 on which he was summoned to the Police Station and was advised to behave properly and a Personal Security Officer, Head Constable Rajinder Singh PW-32, was also deputed for the security of the deceased. It appears that as a consequence of the complaints against him, the appellant too retaliated and made a report to the University on 30th October 1995 alleging that the deceased was pursuing two courses simultaneously which was in violation of the University Rules and when no action was taken he sent two reminders dated 4th December 1995 and 20th December 1995 to the University as well. A show cause notice was issued to the deceased and in response thereto she submitted her reply dated 1st December 1995 and during the pendency of these proceedings, the result of her LL.B. 5th Semester examination was withheld. On 23rd January 1996 PW Head Constable Rajinder Singh, the PSO, did not turn up at the residence of the deceased at the stipulated time on which she left for the University in her car along with her parents PW-1 Mr. C.L. Mattoo and PW-44 Mrs. Rageshwari Mattoo who had to visit the Tis Hazari Courts to attend to some civil proceedings. The parents were dropped off at Tis Hazari at 10.15 a.m. Head Constable Rajinder Singh, however, reached the Faculty of Law directly and saw the appellant present there. The deceased attended the class from 11.15 a.m. to noon and thereafter accompanied by the Head Constable left the faculty for Tis Hazari but finding that her parents had already left the court, she returned to her residence at about 1.45 p.m. and directed Head Constable Rajinder Singh to report again at 5.30 p.m. The deceased then had her lunch whereafter Virender Prasad, the domestic help, left the house at about 2.30 p.m. to meet his friend Vishnu Prasad @ Bishamber at the residence of PW-6 Lt.Col S.K.Dhar at Safdarjung Enclave and returned to Vasant Kunj at 4.55 p.m. He then took the dog for a walk in the colony. The appellant came to the residence of the deceased at about 4.50 p.m. carrying his helmet in his hand and was seen by PW-2 Kuppuswami. PW-3 Jaideep Singh Ahluwalia, Security Supervisor in the colony also saw the appellant at 5.30 p.m. near the residence of the deceased, PW-43 and O.P.Singh, Advocate also noticed the appellant riding out of the park area of B-10, Vasant Kunj at the same time. Head Constable Rajinder Singh PW reached the residence of the deceased at about 5.30 p.m., as directed, along with Constable Dev Kumar. The Head Constable pressed the call bell but eliciting no response from inside, he went to another door which opened onto the courtyard and knocked but again to no effect. As the door was slightly ajar the two entered the bedroom of the deceased and found her dead body lying under the double bed. The Head Constable immediately informed Police Station, Vasant Kunj about the incident on which SHO Inspector Surinder Sharma arrived at the site and a daily diary report (rojnamcha) to the above facts Ex.PW-18/A was also recorded at 5.45 p.m. Inspector Lalit Mohan, Additional SHO, Vasant Kunj was entrusted with the investigation on which he along with Sub-Inspector Sushil Kumar, Sub-Inspector Padam Singh, Head Constable Satish Chand and several other police officers too reached the residence of the deceased and found her dead body lying under the double bed with the cord of the electric heat convector tied around her neck. He also noticed blood stains around the body. A case under section 302 of the IPC was thereafter registered at Police Station, Vasant Kunj, on the complaint of the father of the deceased, in which the day's happenings were spelt out. It was further noted that after completing their work in the Tis Hazari Courts he and his wife had visited Safdarjung Enclave and from there he had gone on to attend an official meeting at Vikas Kuteer, ITO whereas his wife had visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and it was on returning to his residence at 7.30 p.m. that he found that his daughter had been murdered.

(3.) During the course of the inquest proceedings initiated by Inspector Lalit Mohan the crime scene was photographed and some hair found on the dead body, broken pieces of glass and blood stains near the dead body were recovered. The electric cord of the heat convector which had been used for the strangulation was also taken into possession. The statements of PW-6 Lt. Col. S.K. Dhar, PW-1 Mr. C.L. Mattoo, the complainant, and PW-44 Mrs. Rageshwari Mattoo, the mother of the deceased, and several others were recorded by Inspector Lalit Mohan and the dead body was then sent to the Safdarjung Hospital. In her statement, Mrs. Rageshwari Mattoo raised the suspicion that the appellant was the culprit and he was joined in the investigation during the night intervening 23rd and 24th January 1996. He was also brought before Inspector Lalit Mohan and he noticed tenderness on his right hand and an injury which was not bandaged or plastered. He was also sent for a medical examination and PW-23 Dr. R.K. Wadhwa of the Safdarjung Hospital examined him at 3.45 a.m. and found two injuries on his person - one a swelling on the right hand dorsum lateral aspect, tenderness with crepitus and the second, scar marks old and healed multiple both lower limbs and on the chest.