YAKUB Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is against the conviction and sentence of these two appellants under Section 302 read with Section 34, I.P.C.

(2.) The prosecution case as spelt out from the record, can be briefly summarised as follows :Appellant 2 Ilias was the father of child Ayub, the deceased. Appellant 1 Yakub is the brother of appellant 2. The house of these two appellants are situated adjacent to each other. Appellant Ilias married PW 1 Akbari. Ilias and Akbari were blessed with a son Tayub. When Tayub was 25 days old, appellant 2 Ilias turned out Akbari from his house. Akbari with her child Tayub, therefore, came to her parents' house. Thereafter efforts were made to bring about cohabitation of the couple. During that period appellant Ilias is said to have raised the issue of a dowry of Rs. 8,000/-. However, on the persuation by the respectable persons, the couple settled to live in the matrimonial home. Thereupon PW-1 Akbari started staying with her husband Ilias (appellant 2). In the background of these events, Tayub was found dead. But that incident had been suppressed by persuading Akbari that the matter pertains to the family, and that Ilias would properly behave henceforth. After the death of Tayub, Akbari came to her parents' house. Some period elapsed thereafter. Then the couple was blessed with a second son Ayub whose death in this case has given rise to the present case.

(3.) Child Ayub was 2 1/2 years old when Akbari with her child had come to the village of the appellant for the condolence to the family of appellant No. 1 Yakub who had lost his daughter. On that occasion appellant 2 Ilias declined to allow Akbari to come to his house and, therefore, Smt. Akbari sent a message to her parents. Her father then came with 10-12 persons. A meeting was then called. In the said meeting ultimately Ilias yielded and allowed Akbari to stay with him. On that occasion Akbari told her father that he should take away child Ayub with him, lest there should be any opportunity to Ilias to do away with the child. On such representation, Ilias protested and declared that he would not allow Akbari to stay with him unless she comes with the child Ayub. Ultimately Akbari and her child came to stay with Ilias. The father of Akbari, however, had sent one girl Farida aged about 7-8 years to look after the child Ayub. Farida is the niece of PW-1 Akbari. In the set of these events and circumstances, the incident in this case took place at about 7.30 a.m. to 8.00 a.m. on 18-3-1990. At that time Smt. Akbari left the child Ayub in charge of her niece Farida aged about 7-8 years. Thereafter Akbari left to fetch water from the village well. The prosecution case is that while Akbari was thus away, appellant 1 asked the girl Farida to fetch for him a bundle of 'bidi', and thus sent her to the shop. Farida was then asked to leave Yakub. Farida, therefore, left Ayub and went to a shop to fetch bidi. On her return she could not notice Yakub. She, therefore, rushed to PW-1 Akbari and informed her that her son Ayub was missing. Later on, the deadbody of Ayub was recovered from a small tank full of water, situated near the house of Yakub. On seeing the deadbody of her son, PW-1 Akbari fainted. Meanwhile, Deen Mohammad, the Sarpanch of the village also arrived at the scene of occurrence. He then ascertained the circumstances and reported the death of Ayub to the police. His report was accordingly recorded as the First Information Report; and investigation started. After performing the inquest on the deadbody, the body of Ayub was sent for autopsy examination. The doctor found that the child died due to asphyxia resulting from drowning in the water. No visible injury was found on the deadbody.