BISWAJIT BHOWMIK Vs. THE STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal by the convict, hereinafter referred to as the appellant, has been filed under Section 374(2) of the Cr.P.C. against the judgment and order dated 02.01.2014 delivered in case No. S.T. 215 of 2012 by the Additional Sessions Judge, Court No. 5 (First Track Court), West Tripura, Agartala. The appellant has been convicted under Section 306 of the I.P.C. and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 3,000/ - in default, to suffer further imprisonment for 2 months.

(2.) THE genesis of the prosecution is rooted in the written ejahar filed by one Amar Das (PW -1) whose elder sister, Pratima Bhowmik nee Das was married to the appellant. The appellant was a school teacher. In their wedlock, one son namely, Banadip Bhowmik (PW -8) was born. The couple with their son were residing in the house of one Yogamaya Dey at Colonel Chowmuhani at Agartala. On 25.02.2011 in the morning at around 7.08 O'clock, the appellant rang up the informant from his cellular phone and informed that he had killed his sister, Pratima by hanging her with a rod of the window of their room and he would be leaving with his son from that place. He had further narrated that the dead body of his sister was lying inside the room and they might break the lock for recovering her dead body as the key of the room was with him. Thereafter, the appellant snapped the call. PW -1 immediately informed his parents and some neighboring people namely, Gobinda Shil and Mithun Dutta. They rushed to the place of occurrence. On arriving at their rented house, they found the hut was locked from the outside. They informed the police. When the police arrived at the place of occurrence, he had entered into the hut by way of breaking the locking ring and found that "the dead body of my elder sister named Pratima Das was fastened with a rod of the window of that hut. And the entire body of her was found lying over the floor of the hut. Having seen the dead body of my sister I had no doubt in that respect that my brother -in -law (i.e. the husband of my sister) named Biswajit had fastened her with rod of the window by way of killing her (my sister Pratima Das) after throttling" (as translated by the Paper Book Section).

(3.) ON completion of the investigation, the final police report was filed charge -sheeting the appellant under Section 302 of the IPC. In due course, the police papers were committed to the court of the Sessions Judge, West Tripura, Agartala. When the case was transferred to the court of the Additional Sessions Judge, West Tripura, Agartala, Court No. 5, the Addl. Sessions Judge, hereinafter would be referred to as the trial court, framed the charge against the appellant for committing the offence of abetment to suicide by way of unbearable torture under Section 306 of the IPC. Alternative charge was framed under Section 302 of the IPC for committing murder of Pratima. The appellant pleaded total innocence and claimed to face the trial.