VINEET Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal preferred by the appellant against the judgment of conviction dtd. 20/5/2015 and the order of sentence dtd. 21/5/2015 for commission of offence punishable under Ss. 302 and 498-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short 'the IPC') thereby awarding following sentence to the appellant: Under Sec. 302 of the IPC To undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.25,000.00. In default of payment of fine, he shall further undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year. Under Sec. 498-A of the IPC. To undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000.00. In default of payment of fine, he shall further undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one month.

(2.) In brief, a sordid, terrible and tragic tale of murder of a wife in the present case is that Rachna Devi, mother of deceased-Preeti, made complaint/statement against the appellant/accused stating that she has four children. They had performed the marriage of their eldest daughter Preeti with the appellant/accused Vineet on 5/7/2006 as per Hindu rites and ceremonies and they had given dowry articles beyond their capacity but the appellant/accused was not happy with the said articles. Out of the wedlock, two children were born- one daughter and one son. The appellant/accused used to give beatings to her under the greed of dowry and pressurized her to bring money from her house and used to send her to their house for bringing money. They after giving money to their daughter sent her back to her matrimonial home. About 10 days prior to the incident, the appellant/accused gave beatings to her daughter-Preeti. On receiving information, she along with Chinki (her another daughter) and Sushil Kumar (father-in-law of her daughter- Chinki) came to Pehowa and after making understand the appellant/accused, returned back. Her daughter-Preeti told her to take her along with them or otherwise, the appellant/accused would kill her. On 10/6/2014, the appellant/accused informed her on mobile phone No.9896989293 that her daughter Preeti died and her dead body was lying in Government Hospital, Pehowa. On this information, she along with her husband Ramesh Kumar, her Samdhi-Sushil Kumar and daughter Chinki reached Government Hospital, Pehowa, they saw dead body of her daughter-Preeti was lying on a stretcher and there were marks of injuries on her body. When they enquired, they came to know that the appellant/accused murdered their daughter after giving beatings and poison to her in greed of dowry. On the basis of said complaint Ex.P2, FIR was registered. The matter was investigated by SI Darshan Singh and SI Phool Singh. Site plan was prepared, statements of witnesses were recorded, post mortem of the dead body was got conducted, medical records were obtained, the appellant/accused was arrested and after completion of investigation, he was challaned in due course to face trial before the Court. On finding a prima-facie case, punishable under Ss. 498-A and 302 of the IPC, the appellant/accused was charge-sheeted by the trial court to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

(3.) In order to prove its case, the prosecution examined as many as 15 prosecution witnesses and produced material documents and objects which were exhibited. In his defence evidence, appellant/accused examined DW-1 Pawan Kumar.