VALARMATHI Vs. RANGASAMY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The unsuccessful private complainant is the appellant herein. The appellant is the wife of the first accused / first respondent herein. The second accused is the second wife of the first accused as has been alleged in the complaint and the third accused is the mother-in-law of the appellant/private complainant. The fourth accused is the sister of the first accused and sixth accused is the father of the second accused and seventh accused is the mother of the second accused.

(2.) The appellant herein has preferred a private complaint for the alleged offence punishable under section 494 read with Section 109 of IPC and under Section 17 of the Hindu Marriage Act against the accused. According to the appellant, the marriage between her and the first accused was solemnized on 10.04.1989 and out of the wedlock, one Son and one Daughter have born. During the subsistence of the said legal wed lock, the son born to the de-facto complainant and the first accused died due to medical complications at the age of 13. After the death of the son, the matrimonial relationship between the private complainant/appellant and first accused/first respondent got strained. Taking advantage of the same, the accused 2 to 6 subjected the appellant to matrimonial cruelty in various forms and the appellant. Notwithstanding the same, the appellant, taking into consideration the interest of the surviving daughter, did not question any of the acts of the accused. While so, during the subsistence of the marriage between the appellant and the first accused, the first accused married the second accused and such marriage was solemnised at the instance of the accused 3 to 7 and hence, the private complaint was filed by the appellant herein.

(3.) To substantiate the averments made in the complaint, the appellant examined herself as PW1 apart from herself, three other witnesses as PW2 to 4 and Exs. P1 to P4 were marked. On the side of the accused, neither a witness was examined nor any document marked.