VINAY KUMAR Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises out of the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 27.12.2010 passed by the Sessions Judge, Katghora, Distt. Korba in S.T.No.113/2009 convicting each of the accused/appellants under Section 302/34 of IPC and sentencing them to undergo imprisonment for life and pay a fine of Rs.500/- with default stipulation.

(2.) In the present case name of the deceased is Santoshi Bai, wife of appellant No.1 Vinay Kumar, their marriage was solemnized some time in May, 2007 and out of the wedlock they have a son. Appellant No.2 Manrakhan is father of appellant No.1 whereas appellant No.3 Vinod Kumar is elder brother of appellant No.1 and appellant No.4 Rajkunwar is wife of appellant No.2 and mother of appellants No.1 & 3. As per the prosecution case, in the night intervening 19/20th July, 2009 the deceased was murdered by the accused persons in her matrimonial house. Merg intimation Ex.P/1 was recorded on 20.7.2009 at 9.45 am at the instance of PW-1 Prahlad, father of the deceased. Inquest on the dead body was prepared vide Ex.P/3. Thereafter, the dead body was sent for postmortem which was conducted by PW-6 Dr. Pradeep Agrawal vide Ex.P/7 who noticed abrasions on neck, right submandibular region, cheek, contusion in left leg, presence of subcutaneous ecchyomosis and found that all the injuries were caused by hard and blunt object. In his opinion, the cause of death was asphyxia as a result of throttling and that the death was homicidal in nature. After receiving postmortem report and completing merg enquiry, FIR (Ex.P/8) was registered against the accused/appellant on 21.7.2009 under Sections 304B, 302, 34 of IPC. After investigation, charge sheet was filed against the appellants and accordingly, charges were framed against them under Sections 498A, 302, 34 and alternatively under Section 304B, 34 of IPC.

(3.) So as to hold the accused/appellants guilty, the prosecution examined as many as 11 witnesses. Statements of the accused persons were also recorded under Section 313 of Cr.P.C. in which they denied the circumstances appearing against them in the prosecution case, pleaded innocence and false implication. In defence, they examined two witnesses.