PRADEEP DADU SAWANT Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant has challenged the conviction and the consequent sentence for the offence punishable under section 306 of I. P. C. The appellant is sentenced to suffer R. I. for two years and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/-, in default, R. I. for one month. Similarly, the appellant has been convicted for the offence punishable under section 498-A of I. P. C. and sentenced to suffer R. I. for one year and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/-, in default, R. I. for month.

(2.) THE case of the prosecution in brief is that deceased Jayashri was married to accused No. 2 (appellant) on 16-6-89. After marriage, accused and Jayashri were residing at Gadhinglaj as the accused was serving as a lecturer in college at Gadhinglaj. Original accused No. 1 Smt. Pavitra @ Abi Rajaram Kamble is sister of the appellant who has been acquitted of all the charges. After some months of marriage, Jayashri was pregnant and delivered a child. She lived with her mother for about 2 1/2 months and went back to her husband. On holidays, Jayashri and her husband used to visit mothers house. However, she used to return back immediately. Jayashri never came alone to her mothers house as her husband was not sending her alone. For this reason, her mother (complainant) used to go to Gadhinglaj to see her and whenever she requested accused/appellant to send her, he refused to send her. Vijay (P. W. 5) younger brother of Jayashri aged about 12 to 13 years once had gone to Jayashris house for Rakshabandhan festival. At that time in his presence appellant and the sister Pavitra @ Abi Kambale had beaten Jayashri when Jayashri expressed her intention to go to Kolhapur. At the time of Ganpati festival, Jayashris mother along with one Gopala and his wife Savitri who are the in-laws of another daughter of Tolabai had gone to Gadhinglaj to bring Jayashri. The appellant refused to send Jayashri for Ganpati festival and on the contrary told them that he would bring Jayashri during the Ganpati holidays. Jayashri had complained with her mother that she was being ill-treated on the ground that accused has suspicion regarding her character and he also used to beat her. She told her mother that she would not reside at Gadhinglaj and also asked the mother to secure divorce. At that time the appellant had threatened her mother. Thereafter, her mother had returned back to Kolhapur. Thereafter, on Wednesday, Jayashri, accused and appellant had gone to Kolhapur to the house of Jayashris mother. They stayed there for some time and returned back to Gadhinglaj. In this visit also Jayashri told her mother that her husband was suspecting her character and was beating her and her mother should therefore, visit her and also secure divorce. Thereafter, on the next Saturday, Jayashris sister Rekha was informed on phone that Jayashri was burnt and was admitted to Miraj Hospital. Thereafter, all the relatives went to Miraj where they were informed that Jayashri died as a result of burns. After this, a complaint was lodged by Tolabai to the police station and the police started the investigation. During the investigation, the panchanama of the spot was prepared and the dead body was sent for post mortem and report was obtained. Police recorded statements of different witnesses, seized the burnt pieces of blouse and bangles and sent them to C. A. After investigation was over, charge-sheet was filed against the appellant and his sister.

(3.) THE accused denied the charge. His defence is that he never ill treated Jayashri and he had love and affection for her and it was for this reason he was not allowing her to go to her mothers house. On the contrary he often used to visit her mothers house alongwith her and there was absolutely no difference between them. On the date of the incident, he returned from College at 11. 30 a. m. and he and his wife were sitting on the cot alongwith their newly born child. (a son who is still living with the appellant ). He told Jayashri that after some time he would take meals. On hearing cries of the child, Jayashri went inside the kitchen for making preparations for serving milk and food to him and he took child to another room as the child was crying. In a short time he heard shouting from the kitchen side, it was Jayashri calling him as "aaho-Aaho". On entering the kitchen he found that Jayashri had caught fire. Therefore, after keeping the child on the cot, he embraced her in order to put off the fire and because of this he also received burn injuries. He was shouting and trying for help. Thereafter he does not know as to what happened afterwards because he was groaning with pains. Jayashri and her child were physically weak as the child was born in the 7th month of pregnancy.