LAXMINARAYAN Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY this appeal, the appellant has assailed the judgment dated 27th June, 1994 of the learned Sessions Judge, Sagar, in Sessions Trial No. 298/93 by which he has been convicted under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC and, respectively, sentenced thereunder to imprisonment for life and rigorous imprisonment for 7 years. Both the sentences have been directed to run concurrently.

(2.) THE appellant is the husband of deceased Sarojrani who was tied in the nuptial bondage with him in the summers of 1989. This nuptial was blessed with a son in the year 1991 who was, at the time of the incident, about 3 years old. At the time of the incident, Sarojrani was in the house in which the accused lived alongwith other members including P. W. 1 Jiwanlal, though bedroom of the accused was separate.

(3.) ACCORDING to the case of the prosecution, accused was unemployed and frustrated by his unemployment, his wife Sarojrani (deceased) used to pressurize him to allow her to go to her parents' place. This attitude of the deceased had led to quarrels between the two, in the past, as the accused was opposed to the idea of her frequently going to the house of her parents. It was on account of this hostility existing between the two that the accused, according to the prosecution, throttled her and after her death, burnt her body by pouring kerosene oil on the body and lighting a match to it and thereafter went away. On being informed by the neighbour Ajay Kumar, Jiwanlal (P. W. 1) rushed to the place of the incident and thereafter informed the police, on the basis whereof, police recorded a "merg" and sent the body for post-mortem. In the report of post-mortem, it was revealed that the deceased had died on account of throttling and the body was burnt later. During investigation, clothes of the deceased, half burnt match stick, a bucket made of iron sheet containing kerosene oil, was seized and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar in which traces of kerosene were found by the Laboratory. On the basis of the evidence collected by the prosecution including the statement of P. W. 7 Chhiddu Shah that the accused had made extra-judicial confession which he did not support at the trial, the prosecution claimed that the accused was the person who had caused the death of his wife Sarojrani by throttling her and thereafter, in order to screen the offence and the offender, he had burnt the dead body and surreptitiously left the house.