LUDRA HONSA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant has been convicted under S. 302, Penal Code, and sentenced to R. I. for life for having committed the murder of his step -mother, Katha Hansani, on 21 -5 -65.

(2.) THE prosecution case is that the appellant was not on good terms with his step -mother on account of some property dispute. The accused wanted to transfer some property to P. W. 6, but it could not take effect as the deceased opposed it. For this reason the accused entertained a grudge against the deceased. It is alleged that on the date of occurrence at about 9 a.m. when the deceased was going to her Bari followed by her sons Govind and Parama, the accused also followed her with a Tangi in his hand. He then dealt a Tangi blow on the back and either side of the neck of the deceased as a result of which she fell down and died on the spot. On seeing this, Govind (P. W. 11) raised a cry on hearing which, P. W. 10 a close neighbour immediately rushed to the place and found that the accused was standing at the spot holding a Tangi which had been stained with blood and the deceased who was lying on the ground was struggling for life. The matter was reported to P. W. 1 who had then gone to the weekly market. On receipt of this information, he along with P. W. 2, Lachman Bag, P. W. 4 Bhagirathi Punji and some others went to the Sarpanch Durjodhan Bhoi (P. W. 8). They all went to the house of the deceased and found her dead and lying inside her Bari with some injuries on the back and neck. On their query the accused admitted to have killed the deceased and he also produced the blood -stained Tangi, MO. 1, before them. Then P. W. 1 took the accused and the Tangi to the police station where he lodged the F. I. R. After investigation, charge -sheet was submitted against the appellant and after commitment, he was placed under trial before the Court of Sessions where he was convicted and sentenced as above.

(3.) THAT Katha Hansani died on 21 -5 -65 at the backside of her house on account of some injuries on her person cannot be doubted. Shortly after the matter was reported to the police. The I. O. who went to the spot and made the inquest (Ext. 1) found the dead body of the deceased on her Bari side with some injuries on her neck and back. He sent the dead body for post -mortem examination. The doctor (P. W. 12) who conducted the post -mortem examination also noticed several incised wounds of varying dimensions on the upper part of the neck, the right side of the face and in front of the right ear, on the middle of the back he noticed an incised wound obliquely placed in line with inferior angle of scapula. Corresponding to the external injuries there were fractures of the vertebra and the ribs of the deceased and the lower jaw were also found fractured. All the injuries were found to be ante -mortem and sufficiently fatal in nature. According to the doctor, the injuries were caused by a sharp -cutting weapon, like a Tangi. In view of this medical evidence, there cannot be any doubt that the deceased died as a result of multiple injuries caused on vital parts of the body like neck by a sharp -cutting weapon, like a Tangi. The Tangi which was produced by the Chemical Examiner was to have contained human blood. In view of these injuries, there cannot be any doubt that the deceased died as a result of the injuries inflicted on her person by means of a sharp -cutting weapon like a Tangi, MO. 1.