JAGDISH GOND Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The death; not unequivocally proved to be a murder, of a young woman, married for two years, led to the prosecution of her husband and in-laws. The Trial Court acquitted all the three accused finding the death to be a suicide and holding that there was absolutely no circumstance pointing to the guilt of the accused. The High Court; on appeal by the State, against the acquittal, upheld the acquittal of the in-laws but convicted the husband under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter, 'the IPC') and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

(2.) On facts regarding the incident, suffice it to notice that the husband, on returning from work, found his wife lying supine on the cot inside their house. The accused immediately informed his parents; living nearby and also the Police Station at Mulmula, District - Janjgir, Champa, where it was recorded under Sec. 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, (hereinafter, 'the Cr.PC') as a sudden and unnatural death. The death was detected on 29/1/2017 and the intimation was made on the same day. An inquest was carried out in which a ligature mark was noticed on the front side of the neck of the deceased. No suspicion was raised by anyone regarding the death. On 3/2/2017, on a complaint lodged by the father of the deceased, an FIR was registered and the three accused were arrested. A charge sheet was filed, and charge was framed under Ss. 498A & 306 read with Sec. 34 and in the alternative Sec. 302 read with Sec. 34 of the IPC.

(3.) In the trial, eight witnesses were examined. PW-1; the Patwari who prepared the site plan, PW- 2; father of the deceased, PW-3; Tehsildar who prepared the inquest report (P-9), PW-4; mother of the deceased, PW-5; who registered the FIR on the complaint (P-5) of PW2, PW-6; the cousin of the deceased, PW-7; the Investigating Officer and PW- 8; the Doctor who conducted the postmortem.