SANOGI YADAV Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The aforesaid two Criminal Appeals Nos. 2603 of 2005 and Criminal Appeal No. 2611 of 2005 have been preferred against the impugned judgment and order dated 27.6.2005 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Court No. 3, Gorakhpur in S.T. No. 13 of 2000 State Versus Smt. Sonwa and others whereby he has convicted and sentenced the appellants Smt. Sonwa, Shiv Murti, Sanogi, Ram Kripal and Awadh Bihari under section 302/149 I.P.C. to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- and under section 302/201 I.P.C. to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 2000/- and in default of payment of fine to undergo imprisonment for one year.

(2.) The impugned judgment, order and sentence have been challenged on the ground that they besides being perverse are against the law and facts of the case. They are not borne out by the evidence on record rather on conjectures and surmises. At any rate the sentence is severe.

(3.) First informant Surendra Yadav lodged a written report Ext. Ka.1 with police station Barhalganj, district Gorakhpur making accusation against all the aforesaid 5 accused appellants namely Sanogi Yadav, Shiv Murti alias Shiv Murat, Avadh Bihari, Ram Kripal and Smt. Sonwa along with accused Smt. Lalita and Rajesh ( Both the aforesaid appellants have been acquitted by the learned trial court); that his sister Smt. Sheela Devi was married with Chandra Mauli son of Raj Deo 12 - 13 years ago. In her Bidai when she was at her in law's house, she got an abscess in her leg. Although it was cured, yet it left a white spot in its place. Accused persons who are relations of her husband treated it as leprosy and used to taunt her on this score and refused to get her in their house. They left her in her Maika where she lived for 3 years. A Panchayat was convened and on intervention of the Panchas she was taken by her in laws from her Maika 9 months earlier to this incident of her murder. All of them were humiliating her. She had no issue. The informant got an information on the date of lodging the F.I.R. on 22.3.1999 that all the 7 accused persons had committed the murder of his sister Smt. Sheela Devi by setting her ablaze after pouring kerosene oil at her person in the morning at 6.00 a.m. and after her murder in the aforesaid manner in order to screen themselves from legal punishment and to conceal the evidence of the offence, by putting her dead body on the tractor trolley accused appellants and two others carried to the bank of river Saryu and have put her dead body into water. Number of persons have witnessed the incident of disappearing the corpus by the accused persons.