STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. BABUBHAI HARDAS MODHVADIYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Appeal is admitted. Mr. Jagdish H. Mehta, learned advocate, on behalf of Mr. Nirav C. Thakker, learned Counsel, waives service of notice of admission on behalf of the respondents. In the facts and circumstances of the case, the Appeal is being finally heard today.

(2.) The instant Appeal under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, has been filed by the appellant State of Gujarat, being aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 13th July, 2004, rendered by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, 8th Fast Track Court, Porbandar, in Sessions Case No. 63 of 2000, whereby, both the respondents (original accused) have been acquitted of the offences punishable under Sections 498A, 306 and 114 of the Indian Penal Code.

(3.) Briefly stated, the case of the prosecution is that a complaint (Ex.14) came to be filed on 14th February, 2000, at Kamlabaug Police Station, Porbandar, which came to be registered as Crime Register No. I-32/2000. The complainant, Kariben, is the mother of the deceased Niruben. According to the narration in the complaint, Niruben was the wife of respondent No. 1 and respondent No. 2 was her mother-in-law. The marriage of Niruben and respondent No. 1 took place on 27th May, 1998, and they had a daughter named Nisha, aged about eight months, at the time of the incident. The respondent No. 1 used to do agriculture work, sell milk and drive a rickshaw in order to earn his livelihood. The deceased used to stay with her husband and parents-in-law for the first year or so after her marriage. Thereafter, the deceased and her husband lived in the same house, but separately. About 15 to 20 days before the incident, the deceased and her husband started living in a separate, rented house. As per the narration in the complaint, on 9th February, 2000, at about 10:00 am, when the complainant and her younger daughter Raniben were present in the house, Niruben came there with her daughter and told them that the child had sustained a cut on her hand with a blade and that she had sent for her husband (respondent No. 1) so that he could take them to the hospital for treatment of the same. At about 11:15 am, the respondent No. 1 came to the house of the complainant in his rickshaw but refused to take the deceased and their daughter to the hospital in his rickshaw, on which there was an altercation between him and the deceased. Upon Niruben asking the respondent No. 1 to take her and their child home in the rickshaw, he told her to go as she had come. It is further stated in the complaint that at about 11:45 am when the complainant was at the school where she was working, her brother-in-law - Vejabhai, came on the cycle and informed her that Niruben has ended her life by burning herself. On hearing this, the complainant went to the house of the respondents, where she was informed that Niruben has been taken to the hospital. It is further stated that, after waiting there for about four hours, the complainant proceeded to the hospital where she was handed over the dead body of the deceased. The allegation in the complaint is to the effect that initially, for one year after the marriage of the deceased with the respondent No. 1, she was treated well, but thereafter, her mother-in-law (respondent No. 2) did not talk to her and used to taunt her by saying that she did not know how to milk the buffaloes and that she was father-less and brother-less. It is stated that the respondent No. 2 used to instigate the respondent No. 1 against the deceased. The complaint further reads that when there was no food in the house of the deceased, the accused No. 2 used to give food to the accused No. 1 but not to the deceased and sometimes, the deceased used to take food-grains from the house of the complainant. It is further alleged therein that in the month of December of the previous year, the deceased came to the house of the complainant and had disclosed that the respondent No. 1 used to beat her at the instigation of the respondent No. 2, who used to inflict mental torture upon her by taunting her. Further, the narration in the complaint is to the effect that the deceased stayed at the house of the complainant for one month and it was only when a word was sent to the respondent No. 1, that he came and took her back to the matrimonial home. According to the complainant, thereafter, Niruben had complained on a few occasions regarding beatings being given to her by the respondent No. 1 and the taunts inflicted on her by the respondent No. 2. The complainant had comforted her by saying that she should endure this and the situation would improve later on. According to the complainant, Niruben could not tolerate the harassment meted out to her by the accused and had ended her life by pouring kerosene on her body and setting herself ablaze.