LAWS(UTN)-2013-8-163

SATYE SINGH & ANOTHER Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

Decided On August 29, 2013
Satye Singh And Another Appellant
V/S
STATE OF UTTARAKHAND Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant Satye Singh is the husband of the deceased lady Smt. Shashi, while another appellant Smt. Indra Devi is her mother-in-law. They have been convicted by the learned Sessions Judge, Tehri Garhwal for the offences under Section 302/34 and 201 IPC vide judgment and order dated 11.10.2010 rendered in Sessions Trial No. 22/2009 pertaining to Crime No. 16/2009, Revenue Police Station Bayargaon, District Tehri Garhwal. Learned Sessions Judge has appropriately sentenced the appellants for the said offences.

(2.) This is the gruesome murder of Smt. Shashi Devi, who was wedded with Satye Singh four years prior to the date of incident, which happened at any time between the evening of 27.6.2009 to the morning of 28.6.2009. Her considerably burnt dead body was found lying inside the Chhan, 2-3 kilometres away from the residential place of the appellants situated in village Gair, Patti Nagun, Revenue Police Station Bayargaon, Tehsil Tehri. (It may be added here that Chhan is a word in local dialect which carries the meaning of a room/animal shed having the roof of thatch and it is used mainly for keeping the cattle. It also contains some space meant for resting human being.) That Chhan was used by the father-in-law of the deceased for his rest in addition to keeping the cattle, while the appellants along with the deceased and one Ms. Sangeeta Devi (sister-in-law) used to reside in the village house. In the morning of 28.6.2009, dead body of Smt. Shashi was found lying in the state as aforementioned in the Chhan. The deceased was absenting from the house since the evening of 27.6.2009. When the father of the deceased Sharad Singh Panwar, resident of another village Vikol of the same district Tehri Garhwal, got information about the incident, he along with his relatives and other villagers rushed to the spot and found his daughter in the condition as stated above.

(3.) The inquest report Ex. Ka-2 was prepared from 2.45 PM to 4 PM at the spot in the presence of several villagers, Nayab Tehsildar and some other people who were the residents of the native place of the deceased. Prima facie, the reason behind death was burning. However, to detect the clear reasons of the death, the post-mortem was recommended.