SHAHID ANSARI Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The solitary appellant, the husband of the deceased Shamtara Devi, appeals to this Court against his conviction ordered by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-cum-Presiding Officer, Fast Track Court - I, Gopalganj by his judgment dated 2.2.2007 in Sessions Trial no. 177 of 2006 / 20 of 2006. After being convicted of offences under section 304B IPC and section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act the appellant, by order of sentence passed on 3.2.2007 was directed to suffer RI for ten years under section 304B IPC. The court below further directed the appellant to undergo RI for one year as also to pay a fine of rupees five thousand on account of being convicted for the offence under section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act. In case the appellant had defaulted in paying up the fine, he had to suffer SI for four months.

(2.) There is no dispute in the fact that Shamtara was married to the appellant on 9.2.2001 and that she had, on the very next day, gone with the appellant to reside there. All of a sudden, on 1st September, 2003, the informant Nabab Ansari (P.W.8) was receiving a telephonic information that his sister Shamtara had been burnt to death. P.W. 8 along with P.W. 4 and other family members went to the house of the appellant to find that the burnt dead body of Shamtara was very much lying inside a room. He stated that the accused persons were not present and further that villagers told him and others that his sister had been burnt to death by the present appellant and his other family members.

(3.) On the basis of the fardbeyan of P.W. 8, the FIR of the case was drawn up and the investigation was undertaken. The I.O. has not been examined but, what appears from the lower court record and the evidence is that the police held inquest upon the dead body and prepared the report (Ext. 1) and thereafter, sent the dead body for holding postmortem examination by P.W. 9 Dr. Shashi Kumar Gupta, who did not find any external or internal injury except that almost the whole of the body had been burnt extensively, as such, the doctor P.W. 9 found the burn up to 90%. The death, in the opinion of P.W. 9 was on account of flames of fire, which caused burn injuries to the deceased.