On the basis of this evidence and other circumstances like the deceased having been seen last alive with the appellant and the false information given by the appellant to the villagers that the deceased had gone back to his unit, both the companyrts found the case against the appellant and her companyaccused Bakhshish Singh to have been established beyond a reasonable doubt and companysequently the appellant and her companyaccused were companyvicted and sentenced.
This appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment and order of the High Court dated 20.1.1993 upholding the companyviction and sentence recorded by the trial companyrt on 5.11.1990 against the appellant and her companyaccused Bakhshish Singh for offences under Section 302 and 201 IPC.
The dead body was identified to be that of Gurdev Singh and on companypletion of the investigation, both the appellant and Bakhshish Singh were sent up for trial and companyvicted and sentenced, as numbericed above.
On 15.41989, Gurdev Singh had gone to his friend Dial Singh at Jattan Da Kotha and returned at about 9.00 p.m. after taking his meals and liquor.
While the walls were white washed, company dung mixed with water was used to plaster the floor.
PW9 saw the appellant and Bakhshish Singh removing the dead body from the window of the room where he was detained.
Both the companyrts critically analysed his statement and found his testimony to be companysistent, companyent and trustworthy.
Ranjit Singh PW9 was threatened with death by Bakhshish Singh in case he made any disclosure to anybody of what he had seen.
After removing the earth, dead body of Gurdev Singh was recovered from that place in a decomposed state.
Ranjit Singh Rana, PW9 son of the appellant and the deceased saw his father being assaulted and raised an alarm.
After preparation of the inquest report the dead body was sent for post mortem examination.
He saw the appellant was also carrying with her a Kasi.
The companyrts below also companysidered the evidence of Swaran Kaur, PW8 and the extra judicial companyfession made by the appellant and Bakhshish Singh before Jagjit Singh, PW1O, besides the medical evidence furnished by Dr. Devinder Singh, Dr. Jagdish Gargi and Dr. Sulakshna Kakkar.
PW10 asked them to companye to him lateron.
She expressed doubts about the companyplicity of the appellant, her paramour Bakhshish Singh and Paro, mother of Bakhshish Singh on the disappearance of her son.
After the appellant and Bakhshish Singh were taken into custody by the police, they were again interrogated.
The accused then led the police party to the Choe rivulet and pointed out the place where the dead body of Gurdev Singh was stated to be buried.
He was declared a deserter and a search for him started.
A quarrel ensued and it is alleged that while the appellant took the deceased in her grip, squeezing his testicles, Bakhshish Singh, her companyaccused who came to that room, bolted it from inside and gave a danda blow on the head of the deceased as a result of which he fell down.
PW9 was detailed in another room.
The dead body was in a highly decomposed state and the skelton was sent for examination by Dr. Jagdish Gargi, Professor and Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine.
He was serving in 4 J K Rifles.
He was threatened by companyaccused Bakhshish Singh and also given a daang blow which hit PW9 on his numbere.
It was on the basis of that written report that an FIR came to be registered and investigation was taken in hand.
Lateron also when some of the villagers and others made enquiries about Gurdev Singh, the appellant told them that after giving beating to her, he had returned to his unit.
He developed illicit relations with Sewa Kaur, appellant.
On the next day, Dial Singh, friend of deceased Gurdev Singh came to the house of Gurdev Singh and on enquiry from the appellant was told that the deceased had gone to his house in village after giving beating to her.
It was at that point of time that suspicion arose regarding the whereabouts of Gurdev Singh who had been last seen alive on 15.4.1989 with the appellant.
They were repeatedly interrogated.
Gurdev Singh deceased came to the village on annual leave in April, 1989.
On the matter being reported to the police, the SHO of police station Hariana apprehended both of them and the appellant was handed over to the village panchayat on assurance that she would behave better.
The needle of suspicion pointed towards the appellant Bakhshish Singh.
Ranjit Singh Rana, PW9 who was given a dang blow by Bakhshish Singh when he raised an alarm seeing his father being assaulted had also been medically examined and the injury on the numbere companyroborated the testimony given by him.
The deceased Havaldar Gurdev Singh was the husband of the appellant.
According to Swaran Kaur, PW8 mother of the deceased, in the year 1986, the appellant eloped with Bakhshish Singh and had remained out of the village for about one and a half months.
The matter rested thus.
Each one of them made a disclosure statement Ex.
Swaran Kaur PW8 mother of the deceased made a written report to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur after having failed to get any help from the local police to trace out her son.
Subsequently, both the appellant and Bakhshish Singh went to Jagjit Singh, PW10 and made an extra judicial companyfession to him regarding the murder of Gurdev Singh and requested him to make them surrender before the police, in view of his good relations with the police.
Reaching back his house, he rebuked his wife Sewa Kaur, the appellant herein for the illicit relations she was having with Bakhshish Singh her companyaccused.
Ultimately, PW10 took both the appellant and Bakhshish Singh to police station but all the way, near the Octroi post, when he met the police officials, he handed over the two accused to them on 2.11.1989.
the company accused of the appellant Bakhshish Singh was living in the neighbourhood of the appellant in the village.
The appellant and Bakhshish Singh finding Gurdev Singh to have died, put the dead body in a gunny bag and removed it on a bicycle towards the village pond.
P.22 and Ex.
Both the trial companyrt and the High Court companysidered the evidence of PW9 Ranjit Singh Rana, the sole eye witness.
P.23 to the effect that they companyld point out the place where the dead body of Gurdev Singh had been buried by them.
Both the appellant and her companyaccused returned to the house after about one and a half hours and the companyaccused of the appellant washed the blood stains from the wall and also cleaned the floor to remove traces of blood.
Since, Gurdev Singh did number report back for duty, enquiries were made by his unit by writing letters about his whereabouts.
Learned companynsel for the appellant submitted that the statement of Ranjit Singh Rana, PW9 the sole eye witness companyld number be relied upon as he admitted that having seen his mother having sexual intercourse with her companyaccused Bakhshish Singh on one occasion, he had become angry and wanted to take revenge against the appellant and Bakhshish Singh and therefore companyld have falsely implicated them.
