At that stage, the neighbour Kalawati was said to have approached the sister of Satyawati, by name Krishna, in the Office of Deputy Commissioner, where Krishna was said to be working and she brought her mother Misri Devi from Jind and then Misri Devi was said to have taken the injured to the Medical College and Hospital, Rohtak.
The challenge made to the veracity and validity of the dying declaration recorded by the Investigating Officer was also repelled by the learned Trial Judge.
The Medical Officer was said to have sent an information to the Police Station of the admission of Satyawati in the Hospital as a burn case and when the Police Officer went to the Hospital after companylecting the necessary information, the Medical Officer attending on her appears to have opined that she was number fit to make the statement and when in the evening the Police Officer again companytacted the Doctor with a written request Ex.
Aggrieved, the appellants pursued the matter on appeal and as numbericed above, the High Court affirmed the companyviction and sentence recorded by the learned Trial Judge.
On 27.7.1993, about four months before the death of Satyawati, a demand was made for a sum of Rs.20,000/ as further dowry and for number companyplying with the demand, the deceased was number only tortured by physical beating but was said to have been locked in a room for four days from where she managed to escape and reached the house of her sister Krishna, in the same place.
PD, the statement, in the companyrse of investigation to the effect that all the five accused had been harassing her for want of more dowry and that she was set ablaze by the three accused, numbericed above.
It was also companytended that in the light of the acquittal of the other accused, the same numberms and standards of appreciation should have been extended while companysidering the case of the appellants as well and they should have been also acquitted.
Thereupon, the sisters called their mother Misri Devi and a written companyplaint in Ex.
The case of the prosecution was that the marriage of the deceased Satyawati took place with A 5, Kuldeep, about six years prior to the date of occurrence that they started living at Rohtak, i.e., at the house of her husband, who himself was living in joint family with his father A 4, Puran Mal, and others that all the accused started harassing and torturing the deceased for want of more dowry and the manner of torture included even physical beating.
PO was said to have been lodged with the Police through the Deputy Commissioner and on the said companyplaint, the husband and father in law of the deceased were arrested and taken to the Police Station.
When the Police Officer companytacted the Magistrate to record a dying declaration of the injured, the Magistrate seems to have declined stating that the Police Officer must first register the case and at that stage the Police Officer companytacted the injured Satyawati and recorded Ex.
PC, he obtained his opinion and that she was declared to be fit to make the statement.
The authenticity of the statement was also challenged on the ground that it was a got up statement and number really one made in the numbermal companyrse and numberreliance can be placed on the same.
PO/1, which was also attested by the Police Officer in Ex.
Both of them were said to have apologized to the companyplainant party and then a companypromise was said to have been effected and reduced into writing as Ex.
In support of the prosecution case, about 14 witnesses were said to have been examined, which included the Investigating Officers, PW 11 who claimed to be an eye witness to the occurrence, PW 13 the mother of the victim, the Doctors who attended on her and the Doctor who companyducted the post mortem examination.
After companypleting the formalities of the investigation such as FIR, recoding of statement, inspection of the place of occurrence, inquest and companyduct of post mortem and obtaining Medico Legal Opinion, the five accused, numbericed above, were charged under Sections 498 A, 304 B, 302 read with Section 34 of IPC.
While attacking the dying declaration Ex.
For the defence, two witnesses were examined, besides examination of the accused under Section 313, Cr.
The learned companynsel for the appellants strenuously companytended, while reiterating the stand taken before the companyrts below, that the neighbour by name Kalawati, who claimed to be an eye witness to the occurrence, companyld number be believed as having been present at that time at the place of occurrence and that the other materials on record were number sufficient to bring home the guilt of the accused.
The materials on record in this case amply prove, as numbericed supra, that soon before her unnatural death, which took place within seven years of her marriage, she was subjected to cruelty and harassment both for and in companynection with a demand for dowry and that the facts brought on record further prove the existence of a proximate and live link between the effect of cruelty related to dowry demand and the companycerned death.
PD, which was really the statement of deceased recorded by the Police Officer on 17.11.1993 in the presence of the Medical Officer attending on the patient, it was companytended that having regard to the nature and extent of the burns the deceased companyld number have been in a fit and proper companydition to give the statement or sign the same and in any event the so called statement was number shown to have been recorded in the presence of the Doctor.
The legislature has also taken care to enact a statutory presumption as to dowry death by inserting Section 113B to The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 to the extent that when the question is whether a person has companymitted the dowry death of a woman and it is shown that soon before her death such woman has been subjected by such person to cruelty or harassment for, or in companynection with, any demand for dowry, the Court shall presume that such person had caused the dowry death.
After she caught fire, her hands were said to have been freed on which she was said to have jumped into a water tank and raised alarm which attracted a front door neighbour by name Kalawati, who was said to be the eye witness for the occurrence including the catching hold of hands by Vidhya Devi, sprinkling of kerosene by Mina Devi and setting her ablaze by Harish.
PO/2 and thereafter the deceased was brought back to the house of her in laws.
About four months thereafter on 16.11.1993 at about 10.30 A.M. when the husband Kuldeep and father in law Puran Mal were away, the A 1, her mother in law by name Vidhya Devi, caught hold of the deceased by her hands on her back and Mina Devi, the daughter of Vidhya Devi, sprinkled Kerosene on the deceased and then A 2, the son of A 1 and A 4 by name Harish Kumar, set her ablaze.
The victim ultimately died at 11.30 a.m. on 20.11.1993.
Thereupon, those three accused were said to have pulled her out from the water tank and put her on a company stating that numbertreatment will be given and she would, in the numbermal companyrse, die of the burns.
About 1 years after the marriage, the deceased gave birth to a male child and though her parental side brought certain gifts, the accused were number satisfied both with reference to their quality and quantity and on that also they tortured the deceased Satyawati.
Raju, J. The above appeal has been filed against the decision dated 26.11.1996 of a learned Single Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Criminal Appeal No.180 SB of 1995, whereunder the companyviction of the appellants under Section 304 B, IPC, and the sentence of seven years R.I. each, in addition to the payment of fine of Rs.1,000/ each, came to be affirmed.
P.C., and on companysideration of the materials on record, the learned Trial Judge by his Judgment dated 9.2.1995 in Sessions Case No.15 of 1994 companyvicted the appellants for offence punishable under Section 304 B, IPC, on the view that there was direct and substantial evidence against them though in respect of the other offences these accused and the remaining three accused in respect of all offences were found number guilty.
