HIRDANBAI Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal at the instance of the three appellants who have been convicted for an offence under Section 315 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) APPELLANT-ACCUSED No. 1 Hirdanbai is said to be a widow who had, after the death of her husband, became pregnant from appellant-accused No. 2 Yeshorao who is none else but her elder sisters husband. Appellant-accused No. 3-Bairagi is the person who is said to have helped in administration of some drug to Hirdanbai in order to cause her miscarriage, while original accused No. 4 - Natthu Naklu Sakhare was the person who had administered drug to Hirdanbai, which allegedly caused her miscarriage. Original accused No. 4-Natthu died during the trial, even before the charge was framed against him.

(3.) THE prosecution case was that three witnesses, namely, P. W. 1 - Bharatlal, P. W. 2 - Dawanlal and P. W. 3 - Gajanan @ Gajlal, were returning from their fields and going towards the village Chintatola. It was a night time and they found two persons who were having gunny-bags. Being suspicious, they accosted these two persons and being further suspicious from replies given by the two persons, they found that they were carrying a foetus of a female child. The prosecution case is that these two persons were none else but accused appellant No. 3 - Bairagi and original accused No. 4 - Natthu and they replied that the foetus was that of Hirdanbai, appellant-accused No. 1 who had remained pregnant from her brother-in-law. Upon this, the two accused persons were taken by the witnesses to the house of Hirdanbai where the other accused, namely, accused No. 2-Yeshorao was confronted with and was made to admit. On this, the villagers wrote a complaint (Exhibit 63) which was filed in the Police Station, Amgaon, at the instance of Sarpanch, P. W. 5 - Dindayal, on which the police sprang into action, seized the said foetus, arrested the accused persons, conducted the further investigation and filed a charge-sheet before the trial Court which, finding that the offence was triable by the Sessions Court, committed the same to the Sessions Court.