RAM BABU KUMHAR Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant Ram Babu Kumhar whose age was assessed to be 23 years by the trial Court but according to the statement of the appellant he was aged 17 years, has been convicted under Section 302 I.P.C. and sentenced to life imprisonment. The charge against the appellant was that on 11th October, 1983, he kidnapped Dilip Kumar, a minor son of Ramashish in order to commit his murder and in fact the murder of the boy was by drowning him in the chest deep water of Ahar. The appellant was also charged under Section 201 I.P.C. for concealing the dead body of the deceased.

(2.) ACCORDING to the prosecution the murder was committed in presence of Babloo Kumar (P.W. 10) aged only 4 -5 years at the time of occurrence. This witness was produced in the Court but was unable to speak anything about the occurrence. The trial Judge has recorded that this body was unable to give evidence and so his evidence was not recorded, the conviction of the appellant was based on circumstantial evidence. The dead body of the deceased was recovered from inside the Ahar of village Morasiya, P.S. Jagdishpur, District -Bhojpur. The appellant, the deceased and the material witnesses are of the same village. According to the medical evidence the death was due to drowning. It is not established that this is a case of homocide.

(3.) LAL Babu (P.W. 3) has stated in his evidence that on 11.10.83 at about 10 a.m. while he was returning from his boring he saw the accused, the deceased Dilip Kumar and the boy Bablu sitting on the Ahar and the deceased was fishing into Ahar water. Then he asked the deceased to go back to his house whereupon the deceased said that he would return with the appellant (ii) the mother of the deceased told that the deceased had drowned by the appellant.