SURESH GANPAT RATHOD Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AN order of conviction and sentence recorded on 29th October, 1991 by the additional Sessions Judge, Pune, in Sessions case No. 73 of 1991 for an offence punishable under section 302, I. P. C. is impugned in the present appeal.

(2.) THE victim of the incident is Lata Suresh who was none else but the wife of the accused. Lata was daughter of P. W. 5, Dattu Dagadu Surve, a resident of Nere. Her marriage with the accused had taken place on 21st march, 1982. The accused is a resident of Uttamnagar. He was serving in the Observatory at Shivajinagar. After the marriage Lata started residing with the accused at uttamnagar They lived happily for about a year and half. Thereafter the accused started ill treating Lata. The accused was addicted to drinking liquor. He used to return home under the influence of liquor and used to pick up quarrels with Lata and used to beat her. He used to accuse Lata of bearing immoral character. About two years after the marriage Lata had gone to her parents. At that time she gave birth to a female child. The accused thereafter took back Lata and his daughter vandana to his house at Uttamnagar. Her father Dattu was reluctant to send her back since the accused was ill-treating Lata. However, he was constrained to let her go as the accused gave abuses. Dattu had visited the house of the accused some eight days thereafter. At that time Lata had complained to him that the accused used to harass her by consuming liquor. In the year 1987, Dattu had taken Lata to his house. At that time she stayed with him for about a year. During that period accused used to visit his house and used to ask him to send Lata back to his house. At that time Dattu asked the accused to give him in writing that he would treat her well. The accused had then signed a written undertaking on a stamp paper assuring of good treatment to Lata. Lata was thereafter sent to the house of the accused.

(3.) THE incident in question took place on 9th April, 1990, at about 8. 00 p. m. The place of the incident is the house of the accused at Uttamnagar. On that night the accused returned home after having consumed the liquor. He assaulted Lata on her hand with a stone. Despite this Lata started serving meals to the accused. At that time the accused got up and poured Kerosene from a bottle on her person threw a match stick on her and set her ablaze. The accused thereafter tried to extinguish the fire. Lata forced her entry out of the house by kicking the door of the house and thereafter proceeded to Uttamnagar Police Station. Lata was thereafter removed to the Sassion Hospital where she was admitted in burns Ward no. 27 by P. W. 7, Dr. Prasad Purshottam Godbole. She was admitted about 11. 55 p. m. While being admitted Dr. Godbole recorded the history of the burns as narrated by Lata. The gist of the incident, narrated to Dr. Godbole, is roughly the same as narrated above; except that as per the said disclosure, the accused had set her ablaze by using a candle. The other variation to be found in the dying declaration recorded by Dr. Godbole is to the effect that the accused himself put out the fire and left her at the bus stop.