SHATRUGHNA VISHWAKARMA Vs. STATE OF C.G.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been preferred by the accused/appellant under Sec. 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Cr.P.C.'), questioning the legality and propriety of the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dtd. 4/10/2004 passed by the Sessions Judge, Rajnandgaon (C.G.) in Sessions Trial No.64/2004, whereby, the appellant has been convicted for the offence punishable under Sec. 306 of I.P.C. and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 5 years.

(2.) Briefly stated the case of the prosecution is that the deceased-Suniti Bai was the wife of the appellant-Shatrughna Vishwakarma and their marriage was performed 10-12 years prior to the alleged incident, which occurred on 02/03/2004 and her dead body was found hanging with the aid of sari on a tree in the field of village Kahadkasa. It is alleged by the prosecution that her husband, the appellant herein, had illicit relation with a lady namely Janki Bai and due to their illicit relations, the appellant-accused started harassing his deceased-wife and on account of that, she left the house on 02/03/2004 alongwith her two daughters namely Pratima and Tulsa, whose dead bodies were found in the pond of village Singhabhedi. It is alleged further by the prosecution that the death of the children were caused by the deceased and thereafter, she committed suicide by hanging herself on a tree while using sari. The report of the alleged incident was lodged by one Surendra Kumar, the Kotwar of the concerned village, on 05/03/2004 and on the basis of which, merg intimation bearing No.10/2004 was registered by the concerned Police and on the basis of its enquiry, the first information report was registered by Navneet Patil, the Investigating Officer and the dead body of the deceased was sent for autopsy, which was conducted by Dr. Vikas Bambeshwar (PW-5), who opined the cause of her death due to asphyxia. After recording the statement of the prosecution witnesses and that by completing the due investigation of the matter, the charge sheet was submitted while registering the offence against the appellant under Sec. 306 of IPC before the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class at Ambagarh Chowki on 23/03/2004, who in turn, committed the matter before the learned Sessions Judge.

(3.) The learned trial Court has framed the charge against the appellant for the offence punishable under Sec. 306 of I.P.C., which has been denied and claimed to be tried.