RAVINDRA PYARELAL BIDLAN Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ON 21/01/1986 at about noon time Rukmini, the wife of accused No. 1, committed suicide by pouring kerosene on her person. The incident occurred when none else was present in their house, at Aundha Road, Ambedkar Nagar, Khadaki, Pune. As a result of the said suicide the present accused, who are her husband (accused No. l), mother-in-law (accused No. 2) and brother-in-law (accused No. 3) i. e. the younger brother of accused No. l, were prosecuted under Ss. 306 and 498a read with S. 34 of the Indian Penal Code. By the impugned order the accused have been acquitted of the offence under S. 306, I. P. Code but have been convicted for the offence under S. 498a of the Indian Penal Code. Accused Nos. 1 and 3 have been sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for six months and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/-, in default to suffer simple imprisonment for three months. Accused No. 2 has been sentenced to suffer six months simple imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/-, in default to suffer further simple imprisonment for three months. The said order of conviction and sentence is impugned in the present appeal.

(2.) PW 1 Thandiram Tak is the father of Rukmini. He is the resident of Jaijawan Nagar in Yerawada. He has five sons and four daughters. Rukmini was one of them. While his daughters were minors and of tender age he got three of them married on one single day. His elder daughter Sukhadevi was married to PW 4 Sevaram who is also a resident of Pune. His second daughter Rukmini was married to accused No. I and his third daughter Meena was married to accused No. 3 who is none else but the brother of accused No. l. Rukmini and Meena were barely aged 6 to 7 years at the time of their marriage. Since they had not reached their age of puberty they continued to reside with Thandiram. Sometime in the year 1982 when Rukmini attained her age of puberty she was sent to the house of the accused. She stayed there for a period of about three months and thereafter returned to her parents. At that time she complained to her father that the accused were beating and ill-treating her and were demanding several articles as they were not given at the time of the marriage. Rukmini continued to remain with her parents for about three years. During this period no efforts were made by the accused to secure the return of Rukmini. On the 8th of January, 1985 an Advocate's notice (Exhibit 19) was issued on behalf of Rukmini calling upon the accused No. 1 to take her back for cohabitation. Similar notice was issued to accused No. 3 on behalf of Meena. It appears that certain efforts were made to refer the disputes to Panchas. Thandiram was insisting that accused No. 1 should execute a writing assuring that he would treat Rukmini well. Accused No. 1 declined to execute any writing. He, on the 25th of June, 1985, addressed a letter to his brother-in-law Sevaram stating that he will not execute any writing, and will not submit himself before the Panchas and that Rukmini should be sent back to him. Thereafter, accused No. 1 came to the house of Thandiram and took Rukmini as also Meena to their house. At this stage, Meena appears to have gone to the house of the accused for the first time after her marriage. Her stay in the house of the accused was for a short period. After about 21/2 months i. e. around October-November, 1985 accused No. 3 brought Meena back to the house of her parents and dropped her there saying that he was required to go to Delhi.

(3.) ON the Sankrant, which fell on the 14th of January, 1986, Ganesh - brother of Rukmini - went to the house of the accused to bring her to her parental house. She was, however, not sent by the accused. Then followed the fateful event which occurred on the 21st of January, 1986 while none else was present in the house. Rukmini locked herself in the house, poured kerosene on her person and set herself ablaze. She sustained hundred percent burn injuries and succumbed to the burns almost immediately. The flames attracted the attention of the neighbours which include PW 3 Ramesh Kasare. The house was broken open and the fire was extinguished. Rukmini was found dead. A message regarding the event was sent to the parents of Rukmini. They came to the spot. One Bhagwan reported the matter to the Bopodi Police Chowki. PW 6, P. S. I. Salvi, who was attached to the Khadaki Police Station, immediately went to the spot. P. S. I. Salvi prepared inquest Panchanama (Exhibit-17) on the spot and sent corpse of Rukmini to the hospital. He prepared a Panchanama in respect of the scene of offence (Exhibit-18 ). He made enquiries with Thandiram. He did not make any statement as according to him they were mourning. Salvi made an entry in the station diary.