STATE Vs. LAL DIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE accused, Lal Din, was charged with the murder of his wife and three children on the night between February 26 and 27, 1969. The learned Additional Sessions Judge. Kangra, who tried the accused, has acquitted him. The State appeals.

(2.) THE facts may be set out briefly. The accused lived with his wife. Nurbibi, aged about 35 years and his sons Basheer, Nazir and Sharif, aged 15, 10 and 5 years respectively. It appears that on the morning of February 27, 1969, Fakir Mohammad P. W. 8, a brother of the accused, came to his house to enquire about his health. He found the accused sitting in the verandah by the side of the hearth where a fire was burning. The door of the room of the house was open, and Fakir Mohammad saw two children of the accused dead. Upon enquiry, the accused told him that he had put an end to his entire family. The cries of Fakir Mohammad attracted Alia Bux, maternal uncle of the accused, his wife Mogdi, Chhemo P. W. 5, son-in-law of Alia Bux, and Chhemo's wife. Gulzaro, the wife of Fakir Mohammad, had also arrived. Hoshiara Ram P. W. 1. Pradhan of the Rainaear Gram Fancha-vat, was informed and he came accompanied by Nudhu Ram P. W. 10. a member of the Panchavat. Hoshiara Ram enquired of the accused why he had murdered his family, and the accused told him that his wife was in the habit of abusive the children when she served them meals and as she did not desist from doing so, he had out an end to them. The bodies were found inside the room. The clothes and the bedding were blood stained. The shirt and the trouser worn by the accused at the time were also blood stained. A blood stained Kulhari was found underneath one of the cots. According to the Medical Officer, Dr. Rai Kumar. P. W. 7, who Performed a post-mortem on the bodies on February 28, 1969. the death in the case of all the persons was brought about by intensive hemorrhage and shock due to multiple injuries and was in each case instantaneous. In his opinion, the duration between the death and the postmortem was less than 48 hours. He was also of the view that the Kulhari could have caused the various injuries.

(3.) DURING the investigation of the case, the accused expressed a desire to make a confessional statement The statement was recorded by Shri Shamsher Singh, Magistrate. First Class, on March 4, 1969.