BRAJAGOBINDA BARIK Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant having alleged to have subjected his wife to cruelty and committed uxoricide by causing disappearance of evidence has faced the trial and is accordingly convicted for offence U/Ss.498-A/302/201 of the Indian Penal Code (in short IPC) on 21/7/2015 by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Balasore in S.T. No.27/216 of 2013, whereby the convict was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for two years (RI) with fine of Rs.1,000.00 in default whereof, to undergo RI for three months for offence U/S.498-A of IPC, to undergo imprisonment for life with fine of Rs.5,000.00 in default whereof, to undergo RI for one year for offence U/S.302 of IPC and to undergo RI for three years with fine of Rs.2,000.00 in default whereof, to undergo RI for six months for offence U/S.201 of IPC with stipulation of substantive sentences to run concurrently.

(2.) One Kajal Barik (hereinafter referred to as deceased) was the wife of convict Brajagobinda Barik and they being of the same village Bajitpur had love marriage around 17 to 18 years back. After the marriage, the convict demanded dowry and subjected the deceased to cruelty and the father of the deceased had given her Ac.0.8 dec. of land along with ornaments and utensils, but after long gap, the convict and his elder brother forced the deceased to sell the said land and subjected her to physical torture. The deceased, accordingly, had informed her family member about the torture meted to her over phone. While the matter stood thus, on 15/2/2013 at about 9 P.M. in the night, the son of the deceased-P.W.6 Biswajit Barik informed his maternal uncle P.W.7 Laxmikanta Swain about absence of his parents from the house. On receipt of information, P.W.7 rushed to the house of deceased and found her shawl, katari and some bushes lying in the backyard of the house, but despite search, P.W.7 could not trace the parents of P.W.6 and returned back to his house and on the next day i.e. 16/2/2013 at about 12 Noon, P.W.6 informed P.W.7 over phone that his mother was found buried in the ditch in the backyard of the house.

(3.) In support of the charge, the prosecution examined altogether 18 witnesses and proved 7 documents as against no evidence whatsoever by the defence. Of the witnesses, P.Ws.9 and 18 are the brother and father of P.W.7, P.W.2 is a cousin of the convict, P.W.8 is the scribe of F.I.R., P.Ws. 1, 5, 10 to 14 and 16 are witnesses to the circumstance, P.W.3 is the Tahsildar, P.W.4 is the doctor who conducted autopsy over the dead body, P.W.15 is the I.O. and P.W.17 is the S.I. of Police of Amherst Street Police Station, Kolkata.