VINAYAK Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant being accused No.1 is before this Court impugning the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dtd. 12/4/2016 passed in SC No.31 of 2009 on the file of learned Principal District and Sessions Judge, Raichur, (hereinafter referred to as 'the Trial Court' for brevity), convicting him for the offence punishable under Ss. 498A and 306 of Indian Penal Code (for short 'the IPC '), and sentencing to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000.00 for the offence punishable under Sec. 498A of IPC and sentencing to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000.00 for the offence punishable under Sec. 306 of IPC, with default sentences, while acquitting him and accused Nos.2 to 4 for the offence punishable under Sec. 302 of IPC.

(2.) Brief facts of the case are that, PW7 - Meenakshi, the mother of the deceased lodged the first information with Kanchanabagh Police Station, Hyderabad on 13/7/2008 against the accused alleging commission of the offences punishable under Ss. 498A and 302 read with Sec. 34 of IPC. It is stated that the marriage of her daughter i.e., deceased was engaged with the accused and at the time of engagement, accused had demanded an amount of Rs.50,000.00. Accordingly, the informant had paid Rs.50,000.00 Subsequently, the informant came to know that the accused is HIV positive and therefore, the marriage talks were broken. However, the accused induced the deceased and emotionally blackmailed her, as a result of which, the accused took her to Mantralaya and both of them have married. After the marriage, the accused and his family members started ill- treating the deceased on the ground that she does not know cooking and was not doing any household work. They also used to insist her to bring money and other house hold articles and they were ill-treating her both physically and mentally.

(3.) The informant stated that on 12/7/2008, the deceased had called her over phone and informed that she sustained burn injuries and requested the informant to come. Immediately, the phone got disconnected. Even when the informant tried to talk with her daughter, the family members of the accused had not allowed the deceased to talk with her. Immediately, the informant went to Hyderabad and visited the Apollo Hospital, where the injured was taking treatment. She learnt that the injured was admitted to the hospital on 12/7/2008 as she sustained burn injuries. The informant stated that as the deceased could not tolerate the ill- treatment meted to her by her husband and in-laws, had attempted to commit suicide several times by drinking phenol or by consuming sleeping pills. The accused by their conduct have abetted the deceased to commit suicide. Therefore, she requested the police to register the case and to initiate legal action. Accordingly, Kanchanabagh police registered the case in Crime No.198 of 2008 and took up investigation.