NIKHIL CHANDRA DAS Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Both the appellants are related to the deceased and also to each other. It appears that the appellant No.1 Nikhil Chandra Das is the brother of the deceased and the appellant no. 2 Anupriya Bala Das is the wife of the deceased late Rameswar Das. By the impugned judgement and order dated 25/09/2018 passed in Diphu Sessions case No. 37/1987, the appellants have been convicted under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for committing the murder of the deceased Rameswar Das and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and also to pay fine of Rs. 1,000/- each, in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for a further period of two months.

(2.) The incident took place in the year 1986. The prosecution case, in a nutshell, is that on the night of 08/03/1986, the accused persons, in furtherance of their common intention, had committed murder of Rameswar Das. On 09/03/1986, the co-accused Anupriya Bala Das i.e. the wife of the deceased had lodged an ejahar with the Howraghat Police Station, inter-alia, stating that on the night of the incident, about 4/5 unidentified miscreants had entered into the house by opening the door and there-after putting gags on the mouth of her brother-in-law and herself, they had killed her husband and went away. She had made an attempt to raise alarm but the miscreants had assaulted her. It was also mentioned in the ejahar that the informant was not aware as to what weapon they used but she sustained injuries on her left eyebrow and legs. According to the ejahar, the miscreants had also assaulted the brother-in-law of the informant. The ejahar also mentions that the informant went to the house of 'Nantu' and screamed for help but could not understand why the miscreants had killed her husband.

(3.) Based on the ejahar dated 09/03/1986, Howraghat Police Station Case No. 34/1986 was registered under Section 447/302 of the IPC. Upon completion of the investigation, the I.O. had submitted charge sheet under Section 302/34 of the IPC against both the accuseds. The accused persons had pleaded innocence, as a result of which, the matter went up for trial.