NIDHI SHARMA Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Convicted for offence under Section 302/120B IPC, and sentenced to life imprisonment, imposed with fine of Rs.2000/- and further directed to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year, also convicted for offence under Section 201 IPC, punished with a sentence of five years of rigorous imprisonment, imposed with fine of Rs.1000/- each, and directed to undergo simple imprisonment for three months, by judgment dated 30.7.2004 passed by the Addl. Sessions Judge, Kekri, District Ajmer, both the appellants, Ashok Kumar Vaishnav and Smt. Nidhi Sharma have approached this court. While Ashok Kumar has filed Criminal Appeal No.946/2004, Smt. Nidhi Sharma has filed Criminal Appeal No.990/2004 before this court. Since both these appeals arise out of the same impugned judgment, they are being decided by this common judgment.

(2.) According to the prosecution, on 28.4.2003 at 5:15 PM Police Station Sawar received a telephonic information that there is a burnt and decapitated head lying near pillar No.11 on the dry bed of Banas River; there are rumors that on the outskirts of the village Jaswantpura, near the main road, in a well belonging to one Bajrang Nai, there is a bundle floating in the well. There is a terrible smell emanating from the well; near a bridge (pulia) at a place called Ara Ki Neemdi a few blood stained clothes were lying. When the police asked the informant about his name and address, he disconnected the phone. According to the SHO, Mr. Surendra Singh (PW-44), since the information was an incomplete one, he informed the Circle Officer, Kekri over the phone about having received the said information. Mr. Surendra Singh (PW-44) along with Om Prakash, Dharam Singh, Jugal Kishore and driver Hansraj, left for the Banas River. At pillar No.11, on the dry river bed, they discovered a burnt head of man. They also discovered a jute bag, a plastic bag, which had blood upon it. Two kilometers away from the Banas River towards Sawar at a place called Ara Ki Neemdi, they discovered a blood stained full sleeve shirt, a blood stained pillow-cover, a blood stained plastic table-cover, and two blood stained plastic kattas (plastic bags). Subsequently, they went to the village Jaswantpura to the well belonging to Bajrang Nai. In his well, they noticed a bundle floating on the top. Although the villagers Raju, Ramesh (PW-1), Badri and Mukesh had already gathered there, the SHO called some of the passer-byers. Taking their help and using a rope, which is commonly used in a charpai, and using an iron hook (bilai), he pulled the bundle out of the water. They discovered that two bed-sheets were tied together, which contained a body of a naked man who had been burnt at places and whose head had been cut off. They also noticed that his intestines were coming out and the corpse was reeking of foul smell. They also noticed inside the well that there was an oily substance floating on top of the water. Considering these tell-tale signs of the decapitated head, of the decapitated body, and blood stained clothes, the police concluded that some unknown person had killed this person and had cut off his head; in order to make the evidence disappear they had burned the head, and the body at places; someone had thrown the head at one place, thrown the blood stained clothes at another, and the headless body at the third place. Mr. Surendra Singh (PW-44) also got the different places photographed. The police concluded that it is a case of offences under Sections 302, 201 IPC. They recovered the different items - the head, the headless body, the blood stained clothes, and other blood stained objects mentioned above. They transported the head and the body to the Govt. Hospital, deposited them at the mortuary, and left Dharam Singh, a Constable, at the mortuary. They came back to the police station, whereupon on the basis of the report a formal FIR (Ex.P-52), namely FIR No.27/2003 was chalked out for offences under Sections 302, 201 IPC by Mr. Surendra Singh (PW-44) and the investigation commenced.

(3.) Further, according to the prosecution on 29.4.2003 the SHO closely examined the burnt head. He discovered that below the left eye there was a steel wire. The body and the head were handed over for post-mortem. The Medical Board handed over the steel wire to the police after the post-mortem was performed. The steel wire was recovered through Recovery Memo (Ex.P-7). After the post-mortem, the body was cremated.