PARUBAI Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant is before this Court in this appeal assailing the judgment dated 12.10.2017 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad in Criminal Appeal No.488/2007. By the said judgment the High Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the appellant herein and the judgment dated 16.11.2007 passed by the Learned Sessions Judge Parbhani in Sessions Case No.27/2007, convicting the appellant in respect of the offence punishable under Section 302 and 436 of the Indian Penal Code ('IPC for short) is confirmed.

(2.) The appellant was charged of the offence as accused No.1 while her husband Gulab and his mother i.e., mother-in-law of the appellant were charged as accused Nos. 2 and 3. The accused Nos. 2 and 3 were acquitted by the Sessions Court. In that view, the appeal before the High Court and the present consideration is limited to the conviction of the appellant herein who is accused No.1. The case of the prosecution is that Gulab son of Gajanan Watane was married to the deceased Mandabai and they had two children namely Akash, a son aged 5 years and Nikita, the daughter aged 2 years. The said Gulab had an extra marital affair with the appellant and ultimately married her on 02.01.2006 and got their marriage registered on 18.02.2006. Thereafter the appellant was also living with her husband and Mandabai, the wife from the first marriage. The parents of Gulab were also living with them and were residing in the small house which consisted of three rooms. One of the rooms in the house was occupied by their servant named Piraji Mankari. When this was the position the husband of the appellant Gulab had gone to Jalna on 02.08.2006 to procure tyres for the tractor. The mother-in-law had gone to her daughter's place to assist her for delivery.

(3.) When this was the position, on the intervening night of 2/3.08.2006 at about 2.30 to 3.00 am an incident of fire occurred and the house in which the appellant and her family were residing was engulfed in flames. The appellant who was also in the house had come out of the house unscathed while Mandabai the first wife of Gulab and their daughter Nikita rushed out of the house with burn injuries, while their son Akash got burnt to death inside the house. The father-in-law of the appellant was stated to be sleeping outside the house on a cot and having woken up in the confusion, noticing the injuries suffered by his daughter-in-law Mandabai and granddaughter Nikita had instructed the servant Piraji Mankari to secure a jeep and shift them to hospital. Accordingly, they were shifted to the hospital where on the next day the said Mandabai and her daughter Nikita died due to the burn injuries suffered by them.