RENDO Vs. STATE OF ODISHA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant Rendo @ Karamsingh Munda faced trial in the Court of learned Sessions Judge, Keonjhar in Sessions Trial No.106 of 2017 for commission of offences punishable under Sec. 498-A, 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (hereafter 'I.P.C.') on the accusation that he being the husband of Tiki @ Tikili Munda (hereafter 'the deceased') subjected her to torture both physically and mentally, committed her murder on 28/4/2017 night and tied the saree of the deceased around her neck and hanged her from the roof beam of the room with an intention of screening himself from the legal punishment. The learned trial Court vide impugned judgment and order dtd. 29/6/2019, though acquitted the appellant of the charges under Sec. 498-A and 302 of the I.P.C., but found him guilty under Sec. 304 Part-I and 201 of I.P.C. and sentenced him to undergo R.I. for ten years and to pay a fine of Rs.5000.00 (rupees five thousand), in default, to undergo further R.I. for six months for the offence under Sec. 304 Part-I of the I.P.C. and R.I. for two years and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000.00 (rupees two thousand), in default, to undergo further R.I. for two months for the offence under Sec. 201 of the I.P.C. and both the substantive sentences were directed to run concurrently.

(2.) The prosecution case, as per the first information report (Ext.1) lodged by one Guru Charan Munda (P.W.1), the father of the deceased on 29/4/2017 is that four years prior to the date of occurrence, the deceased married to the appellant and it was a love marriage and out of their wedlock, a male child was born, who was aged about three years at the time of occurrence. It is stated that after the marriage, the appellant subjected the deceased to physical and mental torture and the deceased used to intimate the informant about the same. It is further stated that few days prior to her death, the deceased was assaulted by the appellant for which she came to reside in her uncle's house. On 29/4/2017 at about 9.00 a.m., the appellant communicated to the informant (P.W.1) about the death of the deceased and the family members of the deceased immediately rushed to the house of the appellant and found the deceased lying dead on the floor of her bed room. When P.W.1 confronted to the appellant as to why he killed the deceased, the appellant disclosed that on the previous night, there was a quarrel with the deceased and he assaulted her with a lathi on her head for which she died and then he tied the saree around the neck of the deceased. The informant found bloodstains on the floor of the house and accordingly, he lodged F.I.R. before the Inspector in- charge of Keonjhar Sadar police station on 29/4/2017, pursuant to which Keonjhar Sadar P.S. Case No.132 of 2017 was registered under Sec. 498-A, 302 and 201 of the I.P.C. against the appellant.

(3.) The Inspector in-charge of Keonjhar Sadar Police Station entrusted P.W.11 Srikanta Sahoo, Sub-Inspector of Police attached to the said police station for investigation. During investigation of the case, the I.O. visited the spot, prepared the spot map (Ext.8), issued requisition to the S.D.M. -cum- Executive Magistrate, Keonjhar to depute one Executive Magistrate to the spot and accordingly, in the presence of the Executive Magistrate, he conducted inquest over the dead body and prepared the inquest report (Ext.2). The dead body was sent for post mortem examination and P.W.8 Dr. Ajaya Kumar Mohanty conducted post mortem examination over the dead body on 29/4/2017 and submitted his report (Ext.6). The I.O. (P.W.11) during the spot visit, collected the sample earth and blood stained earth under seizure list Ext.3 and after the appellant was taken into judicial custody, on the basis of his statement recorded under Sec. 27 of the Evidence Act, one bamboo lathi was seized as per the seizure list Ext.4. The wearing apparels of the appellant were seized under seizure list Ext.10 so also the wearing apparels and the biological samples of the deceased collected by the medical officer and produced by the constable, which were seized under seizure list Ext.11. The I.O. sought for opinion of the medical officer relating to the possibility of the injuries noticed on the deceased by the bamboo lathi and saree of the deceased and he received the query report (Ext.7/1). The material objects were sent to S.F.S.L., Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar through the learned S.D.J.M., Keonjhar for chemical examination and report and on completion of investigation, P.W.11 submitted charge sheet against the appellant under Sec. 498-A, 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code on 20/7/2017. After submission of charge sheet, the case was committed to the Court of Session where the learned trial Court framed charges against the appellant and since the appellant refuted the charges, pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried, the sessions trial procedure was resorted to prosecute him and establish his guilt.