STATE OF HARYANA Vs. INDERJIT SINGH ALIAS BABLI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) MST . Nirmal Kaur deceased was married with Amarjit Singh about 8-1/2 years prior to this occurrence. Mst. Iqbal Kaur accused is her mother-in-law while Mst. Harjit Kaur is the husband's brother. All the accused persons alongwith the deceased and aforesaid Amarjit Singh used to reside in village Bahadurpur jointly. Sarwan Singh father of the deceased resided at Delhi. The deceased was blessed with two sons and a daughter out of her cohabitation with her husband Amarjit Singh. The accused were not satisfied with the dowry given by Sarwan Singh PW on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Mst. Nirmal Kaur deceased and used to harass her on this score. On the occasion of the marriage of Mst. Harjit Kaur accused, Mst. Nirmal Kaur was forced to fetch Rs. 4,000/- her father Sarwan Singh PW. This money was paid by Sarwan Singh with the hope that these accused would treat his daughter nicely. Again on the occasion of the marriage of Inderjit Singh accused, a demand of Rs. 5,000/- was satisfied by Sarwan Singh PW on the same hope of rehabilitation of his daughter in a proper and nice manner. Sarwan Singh PW later on demanded the refund of this amount but the accused declined to refund the same and started maltreating Mst. Nirmal Kaur. The relations between the parties become strained to that extent the Amarjit Singh or any of the accused-did not attend the marriage of two brothers of Mat. Nirmal Kaur deceased.

(2.) WITH this background of strained relations on 10-2-1985 at about 11 AM, Mst. Nirmal Kaur received burns in the kitchen of her in-laws' house. She was removed to Civil Hospital, Yamuna Nagar by her husband Amarjit Singh where Lady Dr. Sudha Sharma PW I medically. examined her at 1.55 P M. and observed superficial skin burns over face, neck, ears, anterior chest, back chest. anterior, abdomen. back, gluteal region, both of her arms, legs and dorsal aspect of the feet. She also observed singeing of hair of anterior and posterior scalp, eye brows, eye lashes, axilary as.and pubic hair. The skin was peeled off at places. The injured was conscious with sound heart beat. The doctor sent to intimation Ex. PA alongwith the medico legal report to the local police on receipt of which ASI Amar Singh of Police Station City Yamuna Nagar arrived in the hospital and recorded statement Ex. PD of the deceased after verifying at 3.15 P.M. about her fitness to make statement. The deceased had signed this statement and the doctor attested it. No case on the basis of this statement was registered at the police station by the Police of Police Station Sadar, Yamuna Nagar as in that statement Mst. Nirmal Kaur had depicted that she had received accidental burns. An entry in the daily diary register was made on the basis of this statement. The injured was shifted to PGI Chandigarh on the advise of the doctor where Dr. Samir Rai, Junior Resident of the department of Surgery admitted her and sent intimation - Ex. PH to the Police Post, PGI, Chandigarh regarding her admission with 100% burns.' On receipt of this intimation, ASI Prem Nath PW6 tried to record the statement of the victim after obtaining opinion of the doctor whether she was fit to make the statement but Dr. Misra opined that she was not in a fit condition to make the statement vide his endorsement Ex. PJ/1.

(3.) UNFORTUNATELY , Mst. Nirmal Kaur succumbed to the burn injuries in PGI. Chandigarh at 8.45 PM on 12-2-1985. On receipt of intimation of her death, ASI Prem Nath drafted inquest report of the dead body and got it subjected to post-mortem examination. The autopsy was conducted by Dr. Jasjit Singh PW2 alongwith Dr. J. K. Kalra. They found superficial 9% burns all over the dead body except on some portion of the scalp, front of upper part of the chest and vulva. The blood vessels and meninges of the brain were congested. Larynx, trachea, lungs and kidneys were also found congested. In their opinion, the cause of death was due to shock and toxaemia resulting from 94% burns. The injuries were ante-mortem and sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature.