ALLAUDDIN Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By the judgment and order, dated 24.8.99, passed in Sessions Case No. 4/98, by the learned Sessions Judge, Karimganj, the accused-appellant stands convicted under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs. 2,000/- and, in default of payment of fine, to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a further period of one month.

(2.) The case against the accused-appellant, as unfolded at the trial, may, in brief, be stated as follows : Deceased Ayarunnessa was the wife of the accused-appellant, Md. Alauddin and they used to live together. Soon after his marriage with Ayarunnessa, the accused started having, quite often, quarrels with his wife and started assaulting her too. The parents and other relatives of the said deceased used to prevail upon the accused and bring about a compromise between the husband and the wife. On 11.9.97, in the morning, Ayarunnessa made a complaint to their neighbour, Abdus Salam (P.W.2), that her husband had taken away her nose ring against her will. P.W. 2 consoled her by saying that he would settle the matter after coming back home from Karimganj. On that very day, i.e. 11.9.97, in the evening, the accused, accompanied by his neighbour, Moinul Haque (P.W. 1), returned to their village from Barapunji Bazar. While the accused went to his house, Moinul went to his own house. But after about 10 minutes, P.W. 1 heard hue and cry raised from the house of the accused and, on arriving there, he found Ayarunnessa lying on the floor in a dying condition. A few minutes thereafter, Ayarunnessa died. On being instructed by Abdul Latif (father of the accused), P.W. 1 went on the following day, in the morning, to the house of deceased Ayarunnessa's father Abdul Mannan (PW 4) and informed him about Ayarunnessa's death. Ayarunnessa's parents and relatives came to the house of the accused and while they found Ayarunessa's dead body lying inside the house, the accused was not found there. Ayarunnessa's father, Abdul Mannan (P.W.4, then lodged a written Ejahar at Nilambazar Police Out Post. Based on this Ejahar, U.D. Case No. 53/97 was, initially, registered and, during the course of investigation, police visited the place of occurrence, drew a sketch map of the place of occurrence and held inquest over the said dead body. As the post mortem examination conducted over the dead body revealed that Ayarunnessa had died due to shock and haemorrhage, resulting from splenic rupture and fracture of limbs, a formal report was submitted, in this regard, to the Officer-in-Charge, Karimganj Police Station, by the in-Charge of Nilambazar Police Out Post on 6.11.97. Karimganj, whereupon Karimganj PS. Case No. 510/97 under Section 302 IPC was registered against the accused and, in course of time, police laid charge sheet against the accused under Section 302 IPC.

(3.) To the charge framed under Section 302 IPC, the accused pleaded not guilty. In support of their case, the prosecution examined as many as ten witnesses. The accused was, then, examined under Section 313 CrPC and in this examination aforementioned, the accused denied to have committed the offence alleged to have been committed by him, the case of the defence being that Ayarunnessa, was an epileptic patient and she died of epilepsy. No evidence was, however, adduced by the defence. On finding the accused guilty of the charge framed against him, the learned Trial Court convicted him accordingly, and passed the sentence as mentioned above. Aggrieved by his conviction and imposition of sentence, the accused, initially, preferred an appeal from jail which came to be registered as Criminal Appeal No. 157(J)/02 and subsequently, another appeal was filed by the accused which came to be registered as Criminal Appeal No. 248/99.