SINDHUBAI DILIP PATEL Vs. RAJESH ASHOK PATIL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present criminal appeal has been filed by the appellant-original informant under Sec. 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, challenging acquittal of the respondent present respondent/ accused No.1 Rajesh Ashok Patil and respondent/accused No.6 Hemant Rajaram Jadhav by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Shahada Dist. Nandurbar in Sessions Case No. 8 of 2015, dtd. 7/5/2022. They have been acquitted of the offences punishable under Sec. 306, 498-A, 304-B read with Sec. 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) Heard Shri Dinesh Manwatkar, learned counsel for appellant and Shri R.V. Dasalkar, learned APP for the State at the stage of admission. With their able assistance, we have gone through the record which was before the learned trial court.

(3.) The prosecution story is that the marriage of the informant's daughter Nital was solemnized with accused no.1 Rajesh Ashok Patil, four months prior to the incident. She started cohabiting with her husband in a joint family with other accused persons at Sahada Tq. Sahada Dist. Nandurbar. The accused No.1 was doing agricultural work. Matrimonial relations between deceased Nital and accused No.1 were cordial for initial days. Nital had made a phone call to her son Dinesh about her ill-treatment at the hands of the accused persons about two months prior to the First Information Report. This fact was narrated by the son Dinesh of informant to the informant. Deceased had also disclosed about the said demand to informant when she had visited at her house for attending family programme about a month prior to FIR. She had disclosed that her husband has received a message that he should pay money to the sender or send his wife to him. The informant persuaded her daughter and sent her to matrimonial house. Thereafter mother-in-law of the deceased decided to send her to parental house for rest because deceased was pregnant. Father-in-law and mother-in-law took deceased with them from her parental house on 3/9/2014. However, the informant received phone call from the father-in-law of deceased at about 4.30 p.m. on 4/9/2014, informing that her daughter was taken to the hospital as she did not wake up. Thereafter informant / appellant went to Municipal Council Hospital Shahada, where she found dead body of Nital in the postmortem room. Informant came to know from the persons who were present there that, Nital committed suicide by hanging herself to fan. Initially Accidental Death Case No. 43 of 2014 was registered with Sahada Police station under Sec. 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code. However later on informant lodged a FIR with the police station alleging that, her married daughter Nital committed suicide due to ill-treatment at the hands of accused persons. Hence, Crime No.157/2014 came to be registered against the accused persons for the offences punishable under Sec. 306, 498-A, 304-B read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The Investigating Officer has drawn the inquest panchanama, spot panchanama and recorded statements of the witnesses under Sec. 161 of Cr.P.C. The viscera preserved was sent to Chemical Analysis. After completion of investigation, the investigating officer filed charge sheet before the Judicial Magistrate First Class Shahada.