VALENTINO ESPERDIO DE SOUZA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been filed by Valentino Esperdio de Souza who has been found guilty by the Additional Sessions Judge at Margao under Sections 309 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to six months' rigorous imprisonment and life imprisonment concurrently. The charge against the accused was that at about 9 a.m. on 4-11-1965 he jumped into a well in the backyard of his parents' house together with his 15 months old daughter Blanche with the object of committing suicide and murdering Blanche.

(2.) The convict is the son of PW 5 Joaquim Xavier de Souza and PW 6 Assuciana F. Lobo who are residents of Salvador do Mundo. The family is in extreme penury condition. Joacquim Xavier was once a seaman but he quitted service about 4 years ago. He had no source of income during the days of the tragic occurrence and the convict Valentino had been out of job for more than a year by then. Valentino had arranged for his marriage all by himself. The relations between his parents and his wife Ana Rita Fernandes were none too happy. Ana Rita had been told by her mother-in-law, much before the present occurrence, to go to die village of her parents and she had actually left for that village (Sanguem) in sheer disgust. Valentino had tried his level best to secure some employment but had failed. On 3-11-1965 the accused asked his mother to lend him mere eight annas but she could not find her way to oblige him. She had only one rupee on her person and she wanted to utilise that money for buying flour. The accused consequently did not take any food on that day. Neither he nor his small daughter was served breakfast on 4-11-1965. At about 9 a.m. on 4-11-1965 while the parents of the accused were busy preparing tea in the kitchen, the wife told her husband that the accused with his daughter had gone to the backside of the house. Within a matter of few minutes Assuciana heard the voice of the accused emanating from near the well. That voice being unusual, she asked her husband to go out and find what had happened. Her husband went near the well and she followed him. Joaquim saw the accused sitting on the parapet of the well, his clothes dripping and his eves red. The small child could not be noticed. Joaquim peeped into the well but could find no trace of the child He passed on the information to his wife and expressed the doubt that the accused had drowned his daughter.

(3.) Belmira D'Souza PW 7, aged 13, is the adopted daughter of the parents of the accused and was putting up with them. This girl was detailed by the family for fetching the parish priest to the scene of the tragedy. The priest Joao Francisco (PW 8) rushed for the place on a cycle and on the way happened to meet Joaquim, who, it appears, had also set out from his house for bringing the priest. On reaching the destination, the priest found the accused sitting near the well but on seeing the priest the accused got up on his feet. The clothes on the person of the accused were wet. The priest put some questions to the accused but they remained unresponded. The priest then addressed the accused somewhat pungently saying why had not the accused killed himself instead of killing his daughter. The accused burst out with a cry and let forth the words. "Father, you do not know; for the last three days I had no meals. My mother is persecuting me. I asked for eight annas and she did not give me. We both want to finish with our life". In reply to another question by the priest the accused came out with the statement, "Father, my mother is not giving me food; she is making my life a hell." Joaquim in the meantime contacted some doctor for permission to remove the dead body of the child from the well. The doctor advised him not to adopt that course and to report the matter instead to the police. Joaquim consequently reported to the police outpost at Betim. He passed on the necessary information to the Police Constable "Kashinath Rane (PW 4). This Kashinath instantly set out for the village of occurrence along with the complainant. He saw the accused sit-'ting on the parapet of the well with wet clothes on his person and his head hanging down. Kashinath went inside the well and with a hunch of hooks managed to take out the child. That done, Kashinath sent a message to the police Sub-Inspector Heddur of the police station Mapsa. That message was carried by Joaquim along with whom Kashinath had also sent the accused. Heddur accompanied Joaquim to the village. He prepared the inquest report in regard to the deceased child and sent the dead body to Panaji for autopsy. He also inspected the spot and recorded the statements of some witnesses.