KIMLAND THYRNIANG Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant has been convicted under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The appellant has also been fined Rs.50,000.00 for the commission of the offence.

(2.) The principal ground urged on behalf of the appellant in questioning the propriety of the judgment of conviction of January 14, 2021 is that only the relatives of the victim came forward to complain or testify against the appellant, though the incident, which is said to have taken place on December 28, 2013 at about 11 pm, was in course of a village function on the premises of the Catholic Church at Mawkohram village when the entirety of the village had congregated to witness a post-Christmas theatre performance.

(3.) It is also submitted on behalf of the appellant that there are several other discrepancies, including the alleged murder weapon not showing any sign of blood in course of its forensic examination, several of the witnesses trying to embellish their original statements and the contradictions between the oral evidence of several of the prosecution witnesses. In particular, it is submitted on behalf of the appellant that a key witness who is supposed to have removed the victim to a nearby house after he suffered the injury, may not have been present at the place of the occurrence or in the village on the relevant date. The appellant also seeks to point out the discrepancies in the oral evidence of the prosecution witnesses as to the particular house where the victim was carried after he suffered the injury. The most significant point raised on behalf of the appellant is that it is inconceivable that the gathering whereat the entirety of the village may have been present would not throw up any witness to corroborate the version rendered by the relatives of the victim or that a person would be able to approach such a gathering with a dangerous weapon, commit the crime and run away, without being apprehended.