YESHWANT DHONDIBA KHULE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY the impugned judgment dated 16-3-1995 the appellants were convicted and sentenced (a) each for Rigorous Imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- in default R. I. for six months for the offence under section 302 read with 34 of I. P. C. and (b) for Rigorous Imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of 500/- in default further R. I. for three months for the offence under section 498-A read with 34 of I. P. C. , in Sessions Case No. 115/94 of the IIIrd Additional Sessions Judge, Satara.

(2.) THE prosecution case runs as under :---Appellants 1 and 2 are brothers. They are residing in the Tin sheds owned by one Tawaskar in Guruwar Peth, Satara. The deceased Nanda is the wife of appellant No. 1 Yeshwant Dhondiba Khule. At the time of incident, she was living in his tin sheet shed. Appellant No. 2 Hari Dhondiba Khule is residing in another tin sheet shed adjacent to the shed of appellant No. 1. His another brother Jalinder also residing another in shed which is adjacent to the former. The marriage of the deceased Nanda with appellant No. 1 Yeshwant was solemnized before three years of the incident. The parents of the deceased reside at Chopade, Taluka Sangola, Dist. Solapur. Three days before the incident, deceased Nanda went to her maternal house to meet her ailing grandfather and in her absence, the appellant No. 1 Yeshwant shifted his residence to the aforesaid shed of Tawaskar. He was in the habit of consuming liquor and ill-treating the deceased Nanda because she could not conceive a child.

(3.) ON 20-4-1994 deceased Nanda along with Suman, wife of appellant No. 2, and one Sarika, the daughter of her cousin brother-in-law went to Krishna Theatre at Satara to see a movie between 6. 00 p. m. to 9. 00 p. m. She returned to the tin shed of appellant No. 1 at 9. 00 p. m. and had her dinner. The appellant No. 1 Yeshwant was present in the tin shed and he started as usual quarreling with her on account of not conceiving a child. He asked her to go away to her maternal house but she refused and therefore he started abusing her. Appellant No. 2 Hari also came there and he also joined appellant No. 1 Yeshwant in abusing her. Appellant No. 1 had threatened her saying that he would set her on fire, and thereafter he would contract a second marriage. Deceased Nanda requested the appellant No. 1 Yeshwant to reach her to her maternal house, but appellant No. 1 insisted that she must go alone. But she refused to go alone. Then suddenly, the appellant No. 2 Hari caught hold of her and appellant No. 1 Yeshwant poured kerosene from a tin on her person and lighted the match stick to her saree whereby she started burning. She shouted save-save. Deceased Nanda was not saved by anybody and therefore she herself got poured water from the pot so as to extinguish the fire. The appellant No. 1 Yeshwant also sustained burn injury to his right hand in the heat of setting her on fire. Deceased Nanda sustained burn injury all over her body and she was taken to Civil Hospital, Satara at about 10. 45 p. m. and she was treated by Medical Officer Dr. Lavand.