RAJESH Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant being the accused in SC No.117 of 2012 on the file of the Fast Track Court-I, Chikkaballapur, is impugning the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dtd. 16/3/2013, convicting him for the offences punishable under Ss. 498-A and 306 of IPC and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 3 years and to pay fine of Rs.5,000.00 for the offence punishable under Sec. 498A of IPC and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 10 years and to pay fine of Rs.25,000.00 for the offence punishable under Sec. 306 of IPC, with default sentences, while acquitting him for the offences punishable under Ss. 504 and 506 of IPC.

(2.) Brief facts of the case as made out by the prosecution is that, the accused who was in love with the deceased Sumithra, married her about six months earlier to the incident i.e., before 18/2/2012 and after marriage started ill- treating her complaining that no dowry was given to him at the time of marriage. On the date of incident, in the morning at 6.00, accused abused the deceased and induced her to go and die. Not able to tolerate the torture by the accused, she poured kerosene and set fire, as a result of which, she sustained burn injuries and died subsequently while on treatment. Therefore, it is stated that accused has committed the offences. Initially, the statement of the injured was recorded by PSI of Manchenahalli Police Station as per Ex.P10. On the basis of same, FIR came to be registered for the offences punishable under Ss. 498A , 504 and 506 of IPC. On the very same day, another statement of the injured was recorded by the Tahsildar as per Ex.P11 in the presence of medical officer PW6, where the victim has stated that she was ill-treated by the accused and she could not tolerate the ill- treatment and therefore, committed suicide. After investigation, the charge sheet came to be filed for the offences punishable under Ss. 306 , 498A , 504 and 506 of IPC.

(3.) The Trial Court took cognizance of the offences and committed the matter to Sessions Court. The accused appeared before the Trial Court, pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. The prosecution examined PWs.1 to 9 and got marked Exs.P1 to P15 in support of its contention. The accused denied all the incriminating materials available on record in his statement recorder under Sec. 313 of Cr.P.C. but not led any evidence in support of his defence, nor got marked any supportive documents. The Trial Court after taking into consideration all these materials on record, came to the conclusion that the prosecution is successful in proving the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Accordingly, convicted and sentenced the accused as stated above. Being aggrieved by the same, the accused is before this Court.