STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. RAJENDRA RAMCHANDRA KULAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Appeal is preferred by the State of Maharashtra challenging the judgment and order dtd. 16/3/2007, passed by Ad-hoc District Judge, Satara, acquitting the accused for the ofences punishable under Ss. 306 read with 34 and 498-A read with 34 of Indian Penal Code ("IPC', for short).

(2.) The respondents herein were accused nos.1 to 5. Learned advocate for respondents, on instructions, submitted that respondent nos.3 and 4 has expired during the pendency of this Appeal. Respondent no.3 has died on 19/6/2014, and, respondent no.4 has expired on 9/9/2021. The photocopies of the death certifcates are produced, which are taken on record and marked "X' and "X-1', for identifcation. The Appeal as against the said respondents would stand abated.

(3.) The case of the prosecution is that the deceased was married to respondent no.1 (accused no.1) about three and half years prior to the incident in question. The FIR was lodged by the brother of the deceased on 26/11/2004. For a period of about one year after the marriage, the deceased was treated well. However, thereafter, the accused had ill treated the deceased. There was demand of articles by them. There was continuous harassment to the deceased. Accused no.1 was instigated by other accused and on instigation, the accused no.1 used to abuse and assault the deceased. On 24/11/2004, the deceased, her mother had attended the wedding ceremony of relatives. On account of not fulflling demand, there was altercation and the deceased was slapped by her mother-in-law. On 25/11/2004, the deceased was missing from the house. Her body was found below the tree on 26/11/2004. Bottle of insecticide was found at the place of incident. The postmortem was conducted and the report was received relating to cause of death. The accused were arrested. Accused no.1 is the husband of the deceased. The other accused are relatives of accused no.1.