SUDESH ALIAS SURESH Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant has been convicted by Additional Sessions Judge, Mudwara in Session Trial No. 90/87 vide his judgment Dt. 5-10-1988 for offence punishable u/S. 302 as well as u/S. 394, I.P.C. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment under both counts. However, he was acquitted of charge u/S. 376, I.P.C.

(2.) The trial Court has found that on 10-2-1987, in village Tola Har, this accused murdered Vimla Bai wife of Imrat (P.W. 3) and looted her silver TODARS from her legs weighing about 965 grams. He threw her body in a JHIRIA (small pond) in the field of Bakhta Chamar. Vimla Bai went out in the morning from her house to her field to do some work in the field i.e. to pick up ACREE grass. She, however, did not return in the village and a search made by family members discovered her body in the JHIRIA of field of Bakhta Chamar. Her TODARS were missing from her legs. The matter was reported by Ramsujan, elder brother of Imrat vide first information report Ex. P/1 on the same night at about 2 a.m. There was no eye-witness to the incident.

(3.) The Police had got the post-mortem examination effected from Dr. D. K. Chourasia (P.W. 11) who found the following injuries on her body : (1) Lacerated wound 21/2" x 1" x 1/2" on left side of chin; (2) Contusion with multiple abrasions 4" x 9" on the right side of the neck and chin; (3) Multiple contusions on the anterior lateral upper part of neck size about 6" x 4" in area; (4) Multiple nail marks on the lateral and anterior part of neck. It was found that the death was caused due to asphyxia, syncope and coma resulting from these injuries. The police had interrogated this accused on 12th February, 1987 and he made disclosure statement that he had kept TODARS of the deceased in his house under the paddy chaff. He then led to the recovery of looted TODARS and brought out the same from inside the BHOOSA in the presence of PW 8 Lalla Kotwar and PW 17 Durjan Singh. The police recovered it. The police had prepared memorandum of disclosure vide Ex. P/14 and seizure memo vide Ex. P/16 on the same day. The TODARS were identified by family members of the deceased namely PW 1 Tulsa Bai, PW 2 Mulayam Bai who are the sisters-in-law (JETHANIES) of the deceased as also by Pyarelal (PW 5), the father-in-law of the deceased, who had got these TODARS prepared from PW 14 Pradip @ Chunna vide receipt Ex. P/22. The identification proceedings were taken by Naib Tehsildar PW 13 S. S. Thakur. One axe was also recovered at the instance of the accused, but, no blood-stain was found on it.