SHEELA DEVI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "Frailty thy name is women" said Hamlet, being angry that his mother, Gertrude, had married his uncle Claudius within a month of his father's death. The speech generalizes the attribution of weakness from one particular woman to womankind.

(2.) SNEH, the deceased, reminds us of the weakness of a woman who, in the prime of her youth, set herself ablaze on not being able to bear harassment at the hands of her husband and her mother-in-law. The decision to end life was not taken in anger or haste. Love for her child, a daughter, made her think time and again to reconsider the decision to put an end to her misery by taking the extreme step. A diary written by her in her own hand has enabled us to understand her state of mind and the mental stress she withstood. She took almost 2 months (date of incident 11.07.1996) to give a cool thought before handing over her body to fire and leave her infant daughter at the mercy of her tormentors, but mercifully the young infant girl has found safety in the house of her maternal uncle and as she stands before us in Court today, we find a young girl in her mid teens, full of vigour and zest in life. Having spoken to the young girl named Himanshi, we are proud of her courage and wish her all the best.

(3.) ASI Shalu Singh along with staff reached the hospital and obtained certification from the doctor regarding fitness of Sneh to make statement. On not being able to contact any SDM, he ostensibly recorded the statement Ex.PW13/2 of Sneh and got the FIR registered for offences punishable under Sec.498-A/307/34 IPC. Statement of Sneh was recorded by the SDM on 13.07.1996 and in the wee hours on 14.07.1996 at 3.15 AM, she was declared dead and thereafter the additional offence pertaining to Section 302 IPC was added in the FIR.