SUNIL CHAND GUPTA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellants before this Court are Sunil Chand and Bimla Devi. They are aggrieved by the judgment and order of sentence dated 07.12.2001 and 13.12.2001 respectively wherein accused Sunil Chand had been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 498A IPC; co-accused Bimla Devi had been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 498A IPC as also for the offence under Section 376 read with Section 109 of the IPC. Accused Sunil Chand had been sentenced to undergo RI for 3 years and to pay a fine of Rs.500/- in default of payment of fine to undergo SI for three months. Accused Bimla Devi had also been sentenced for the same period with the same amount of fine for the offence under Section 498A IPC; for the offence under Section 376 read with Section 109 IPC Bimla Devi had been sentenced to undergo RI for 7 years and to pay a fine of Rs.500/- in default of payment of fine to undergo SI for three months. These sentences were to run concurrently. Benefit of Section 428 Cr.P.C. had been accrued to the appellants.

(2.) The version of the prosecution was unfolded in the testimony of prosecutrix (PW-1). As per her statement she married Sunil Chand on 29.4.1999; for the first six months of their marriage she was treated well; thereafter demands of dowry were made both by her husband and her mother-in-law Bimla Devi. The demands were in the nature of T.V., fridge and washing machine. The parents of the victim were unable to meet these demands. The accused persons started beating her and treated her with cruelty. On 22.9.2000 a son was born to PW-1 but unfortunately he died within two weeks of his birth. On 30.10.2000 (which the date of the fateful incident) at about midnight when the victim was in her room her mother-in-law came and after opening the door she pushed Narender (tenant of Bimla Devi) in the room of the victim where Narender committed rape upon her and then fled away. When PW-1 narrated this incident to her husband; he stated that these things happen in their family. When PW-1 complained about this to her mother-in-law, she was rebuked by saying that PW-1 being a woman of bad character; she would be turned out of the house. In this incident she had sustained injuries on her arms. After 3-4 days of the incident, her younger brother and sister came to meet her and she narrated the incident to them. Her brother and sister informed their parents who in turn informed to the police. Statement of prosecutrix (Ex.PW-11/B) was thereafter recorded. This statement was recorded on 11.11.2000.

(3.) The corroborative witnesses to the version of PW-1 were PW-3 Renu Gupta, the sister of the victim and PW-4 Ajay, brother of the victim. The father of the victim Rameshwar Dayal was examined as PW-2.