BUDHI PRAKASH Vs. STATE OF H.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant is aggrieved by the judgment dated 24.11.2006 of learned Additional Sessions Court (Fast Track Court), Chamba, whereby he has been convicted of offence, punishable under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.25,000/ -; in default of payment of fine to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a further period of one year.

(2.) PROSECUTION case, as per evidence on record, may be noticed. Deceased Naro, aged about 19 years, was married to the appellant, who himself was about 20 years of age, in December, 2003. About 1 1/2 month after the marriage, some time in the month of January, 2004, deceased went to her parents in village Chhanjoth and told them that the appellant indulged in indecent activities at public places, which caused embarrassment to her and on her protesting, he would give beatings to her. She stayed at her parents place for about 1 1/2 month. Her mother PW -9 Guddo brought her back to the matrimonial home, and on assurance by the appellant that he would be treating her well, left her there. On the night of 11th April, 2004, PW -1 Khem Raj, father of the deceased, received a telephonic call from PW -10 Heera Lal, Pardhan of Gram Panchayat, Bharada, within whose area of Panchayat, the house of the appellant falls, that the deceased was missing. He (PW -1 Khem Raj) asked PW -10 Heera Lal to depute people from the area to search for his daughter. A few minutes later, PW -1 Khem Raj received another telephonic call from PW -10 Heera Lal, informing him that dead body of the deceased had been found in a wheat field. PW -1 Khem Raj then accompanied by a large number of residents of his village reached village Banjar, where the appellant lives. He went to the spot. Appellant was not there either at his residence or on the spot. PW -10 Heera Lal was informed by two persons, by the names of Thakur Dass and Ram Dayal (not examined as witnesses), that the appellant was not at his house, but had gone to village Bhatkar and could be available at the house of one Chet Ram. This information was given to PW -10 Heera Lal by the above named persons at 11 in the night, on 11.4.2004, when they went to inform him that deceased Naro had gone missing. On coming to know about the dead body of Naro, lying in a wheat field, PW -10 Heera Lal made a call to someone in village Thalli and asked the man, who attended the call, to inform the appellant at the house of Chet Ram in village Bhatkar that his wife was dead. Appellant then returned to his village accompanied by DW -1 Kheti Ram. He went to the spot. By that time PW -1 Khem Raj, the father of the deceased, had already reached the spot. PW -10 Heera Lal was also present at the spot. He deputed the appellant alongwith PW -6 Tek Chand, PW -4 Rasalu and PW -7 Tej Singh to Police Post, Nakrod, to inform the police. Appellant lodged report at Police Post, Nakrod, which was entered in the Rojnamcha. Copy of that report is Ext. PW16/A.

(3.) WE may notice here that neither in the inquest report Ext. PW18/A nor the application Ext. PW18/D there is any reference to the allegation contained in Ext. PA, the statement of the father of the deceased, that the appellant used to harass the deceased and, so, it was suspected that he had killed her.