ASHA DEVI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two criminal appeals arise out of a common Judgment dated 06.04.2015 and therefore, the same are being decided by this common judgment.

(2.) The present criminal appeals under Section 374(2) of Cr.P.C. have been preferred by the accused-appellants Radheyshyam and Asha Devi against the judgment and order of conviction dated 06.04.2015 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge No. 4, Bikaner in Sessions Case No. 49/2012 whereby the accused-appellants have been convicted and sentenced as under :-

(3.) The prosecution case arose out of a complaint (Ex.P/1) filed by one Vinod Kumar (P.W. 1), who is resident of Bangla Nagar, Bikaner, wherein it was stated that in the morning of 20.09.2010 while he was reading the news-paper, he read a news item that a dead body of one Ratan Singh Soni had been recovered. He immediately called up his brother Indra Chand and told him that a dead body was recovered from the water tank situated in Jod- Beed. They went to the mortuary of P.B.M. Hospital, Bikaner and saw the dead body of their brother Ratan Lal. They informed their relatives and friends. The dead body was cremated after conducting the postmortem. On enquiring the facts, he came to know that the deceased Ratan Lal was being harassed by Radheshyam, Asha Devi and his mother-in-law Roopa Devi because of some financial transactions between them. He also came to know that when he went to the house of Harinarayan Kothari, the residents of the area told him that Ratan Lal was assaulted quite often by the appellants as well as his mother-in- law Roopa Devi. After the cremation, when he tried to enquire about the incident and went to the house of the mother-in-law of the deceased, she was not available at her residence but landlord Harinarayan Kothari, his wife and other tenants informed him that on 18.09.2010 at around 9.00 - 10.00 A.M., Ratan Lal was assaulted by his mother-in-law, Radheshyam Suthar and wife Asha Devi. He was further informed that Radheshyam Suthar and Babulal were most of the time staying in the house of Roopa Devi because of certain financial transactions between them. On 18.09.2010 at around 10.00 P.M., Ratan Lal was taken away by Radheshyam from the house of Roopa Devi and thereafter, on the same night, they were seen on the motorcycle near Karni Mandir, Nokha Road by one Sanjay Singh, who was coming from Jodhpur. Ratan Lal was a pillion rider. Shiv Choudhary who was coming from Camel Farm to Nagnechiji saw two persons going on a motorcycle on the Bhojanshala Road and Ratan Lal was sitting in between them. He suspected that Radheshyam, Babulal Mali, Roopa Devi and Asha Devi along with his in-laws have hatched a conspiracy and murdered Ratan Lal. After tying with a stone slab, the dead body of the deceased Ratan Lal was thrown in the water tank situated in the Jod Beed to eliminate the evidence.