DONA KUMHAR Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By The CourtSole appellant Dona Kumhar who is accused of double murders, has been convicted by the first Additional Sessions Judge of Chaibasa in Sessions Trial No. 62 of 1988 and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life. Against his conviction and sentence, the appellant has preferred this jail appeal.

(2.) Briefly stated, the prosecution case is that in the night between 28th and 29th October, 1986 Dashrath Kumhar and his son Kanhai Kumhar of village Poyapi (Kumhar Toli) went to the near by khalihan after taking their meals. They were sleeping inside an improvised hut called Kumba. The females and children of the family were sleeping inside their residential house. At about midnight, Dashrath Kumhar and Kanhai Kumhar raised alarm attracting the informant Jaimani Kumharin (PW 4) and her daughter Champa Kumari (PW 2). They rushed to the khalihan. According to the First Information Report (FIR), as soon as they reached at the khalihan, the appellant who was armed with a bhala ran away. Their cries did not attract anybody in the village. Therefore, both the mother and her daughter kept weeping during the night at the khalihan itself. In the morning, some villagers named Kartik Kumhar (PW 3), Bagun Kumhar (PW 9), Mota Kumhar (PW 6), Gobra Kumhar (PW 7) and Jhareshwar Kumhar (PW 8) went to the khalihan and PWs 2 and 4 disclosed to them that it was the appellant who had assaulted both Dashrath Kumhar who was dead by that time, and Kanhai Kumhar who was still alive. Kanhai Kumhar was rushed to the hospital at Jagarnathpur. Later on, he was transferred to Nowamundi where he breathed his last on 5.11.1986.

(3.) According to the FIR version, when PWs 2 and 4 had reached the place of occurrence, Kanhai Kumhar was still alive and he disclosed the name of the appellant as the assailant of both the deceased. Jhinkpani Police within whose jurisdiction the P.O. village lies, got the information of the occurrence. Therefore, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police (PW 16) went to the place of the occurrence and recorded fardbeyan of PW 4 at the place of the occurrence itself. At chat very place, inquest on the dead body of the deceased Dashrath Kumhar was held. The dead body was sent to Chaibasa Sadar Hospital where post-mortem was held on 30.10.1986 at 12.20 p.m. According to the prosecution there was a land dispute between the appellant on the one hand and the family of the deceased on the other, in consequence of which the appellant used to threaten the deceased to liquidate them. Only on the preceding Saturday, he had held out similar threat. The police took up investigation and on completion thereof submitted charge-sheet against the appellant for commission of offence under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code.