STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. NIRMALA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Anoop Chitkara, Judge. 1. Challenging the acquittal of the respondents-accused, for causing simple hurt and wrongful restraint, the appellant-State has come up before this Court seeking conviction of accused, by filing the Criminal Appeal under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

(2.) The facts apposite to adjudicate the present appeal, and to arrive at just conclusion, trace to FIR number 154 of 2002, dated September 9, 2002, for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 451, 323 read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, registered in the file of Police Station Nadaun, District Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh. The complainant Smt. Soma Devi alleged that she is a farmer. On September 8, 2002 at 6:30 p.m., she was lopping the leaves, from her compound. In the meantime, Nirmala Devi (Accused No.1), accompanied with Seema Devi (Accused No. 2), came there. Accused Seema Devi was carrying a bamboo stick. Seema Devi obstructed her from lopping the leaves, and claimed that the land belonged to her.

(3.) Realizing that the accused were going to beat her, she went to the corridor of her house. Standing from her corridor, she requested the accused not to enter into any quarrel with her and if the compound falls in their land, then they should go for demarcation and in demarcation if the land is found belonging to them then she would vacate her possession. However in the meantime both the accused namely Nirmala and Seema entered into the compound and started beating her with the stick. She raised cries and on hearing her shrieks, her mother-in-law Kalan Devi intervened and tried to rescue her. On this both of them gave beatings to her mother-in-law Kalan Devi also. She alleged that in the scuffle her shirt got torn off and she received injuries on her left arm, back, and right leg apart from chest. She further stated that her mother-in-law received injuries on her head, right arm and near right eye. She explained that she could not come to report the matter on the same day as it had gone dark, and as she could not get any vehicle.