HI6H COURT OF CHHATTIS6ARH AT BILASPUR c^ (•!n Jaii' r-'arsadi Kam Nishad \,'i/S Resoondenl State of Chhal'tisgarh njnfiMpMT fnMwpQ^nnhi UUfemtIMI FUK fcUNaiUtKA i 1UN Sd/- Dhirendra Mishra Judge ;.N. —- 5 ^j-^ Sd/- f R.N. Chandrakar Judge POST FOR QN^if-11-ZQi. Sd/- w Page l of 14 3^ HI6H COURT OF CHH-ATTISS^RH /»TBILASPUR DIVISION BENCH: HON- MR- DHIRENDR-4 AAISHRA. & HON. MR. R.N. CHANDRAKAR. JJ CRIMIN-4L APPEAL N0.788 OF 2003 Aogeltgnt Parsadi Ram Nishad, son of Manaal Rcm (In Jail) Nishad,agedabout 25 years, residentof Kanapod (Lakhanpur), District Kanker (Chhattisgarh) Vs Resoondent State of Chhattisgarh, through District Mogistrate, Dhamtari, District Dhanntarj V&) Present; Mr. R.S. Patel, Advocate for appellant. Mr. Ravindra Agarwat, Panel Lawyer- for the State. JU &6M E NT (DeSivered on °lj_.11 .2009) Jl 1. This criminal appeat is directed aoainst the judament of conviction nnd or-der of sentence dated 20.6.2003 oassed in S.T. No.308/02 wherebv the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Dhamtari has conyicted the appellant under Sections 302 & 201 of the I.P.C. and sentenced him|fo undergo life imprisonment and fine of Rs.2,000/, in default additional R.I. for 6 months and R.I. for two vears cuid fine of Rs.l.000/-lih defaultadditional R.I. for 3 months resoectively. 2. Co.se of the prosecution, in brief, is that complainant Radheshyam Nishad gave merg intimntion of Ex.P-4 on 23.5.2002 and informed that his daughter came back from her matrimohial home with her husband Parsadiram on 21.5.2002. She was sleepina with her sister- in-law Hemtata, whereas, her son-in-law was sleeping near him. In the night. all of sudden. Rukhmani Bai poured kerosene on her persbn, set her abiaze and died. 3» After registering the merg intimation, the police proceeded for the , . scene of occurrence, performed inquest oyer the person of the wa i.r' Page 2 of 14 ''^' Nw 't'aHiiNi81' w $ •f' ^t' l^!ir deceased vide Ex.P-2 in presence of the witnesses and thereafter sent the dead body to the Community Health Centre, Kurud where t5r. Pradeep Hishikar (PW-14) di &r. V.K. Pandey conducted post mortem and qaye their reoort of Ex.P-lOA. On fur'ttier investiqation. it revealed that the deceased was recentiv married to the aDoellant, he susoected her character and therefore, he committed murder of his wife bv throttlina and thereafter, with a Duroose of causinq disaoDearouice of the eyidence in order to screen himself from the ounishment, he set the dead bodv in fire after putting the same between the vacant space of base (fioda) of the granary. After merg enquiry; crime was registered on 24.5.2002 under Sections 302 & 201 of the IPC aqainst the aopellant. 4. tSuring inyestigation, site plan was prepared vide Ex.P-3. Nazri Naksha was also got prepared of the place of incident by the Halka Patwari (PW-7) vide Ex.P-7. Sample of vomiting, plain soil, burnt matchsticks & bongles of the deceased were taken into posssssion from the teleyision room vide Ex.P-8. Broken bangles, paddy and coal mixed soil and container containind kerosene were taken into eossession from tbe olace of incident, described as ration room. vide Ex. P-9. 5. A auerv vide Ex.P-11 was sent to the doctor for his ooinion whe-t+ier vomitino could be caused in the coses of murder" bv throttling and the doctor aave his opinion in the oiffirmative vide Ex.P-llA. Two jarsanc|| one packet contnining viscera of deceased Rukhmoni Bai, received in] sealed condition froni the hospital, were taken into possession vide Ex.P-13. Artic!es seized during investigation including visceraofthe deceased were sent for chemical examination to F5L, Raipur yide Ex.P-15. However, report of the FSL is notnyailable on record. 6. After completing investigation, charge sheet waslfiled against the ; appellant in the Court of learned Judicial Maaistrcte First Class, Cihamtari. who in turn committed the cose to the Court of Sessions ' Ju'dae, RaiDur and the same was received on transfer for trial by the Pase 3 of 14 ^4, iearned Additional Sessions Judge. The trial court framed charaes under Sections 302 & 201 of the IPC aqainst the ouDel!ant, who abjured his oui!t. buring trial, the prosecution in order to establish the charges against the accused/appellant examined 15 witnesses in all. Thereafter, statement of the accused was recorded under Section 313 of the Cr.P.C. 'm which he denied the circumstances aDDearina against him in the prosecution case and p!eaded innocence & false impiication. He has further stated that ail the family members of his wife are lying to implicate him. Heyisited his in-laws house only nine days after the marriage. He could not understand his wife and He does not know why his wife committed suicide or did cnything. 7. Learned tria! Court after hearing learned counsel for the respective parties, conyicted & sentenced the appelloint as mentioned in Para-1 of the judoment. 8. The first question for our consideration is whether the deceased committed suicide bv self-immolation or she died as a result of throttlina and theredfter her dead bodv was set on fire? 9. The father of deceased gwe merg intimcttion to the effect that |h3s daughter Rukhmani poured kerosene, set herself ablaze ond dited. However, in the postmortem report, t)r. Pradeep Hishikar (PW-t4) observed that body was in 100% deep burn, her mouth was open, eyes were closed, coniunctiva conaested, left ear absent, left Dortionl of her body was more burnt, left upper limb humorous exposed, forearm charred and radius ulna bone exposed bone deep burn. S-eft side ribs bone deep burn, left side lunq chnrred, left side abdominal wall was burnt, organs exposed, left lewer limb disarticulated from hip bone & bone deeo burn, riqht lower limb bone deeo burn. right uooer lirnb bone dees burn, hand disarticulated from wrist.i In occioital reqion hairs were intact and uober oortion of back was suDerficially burnt. r r r • - i r • / i Burn was oostmortem burn. No sian of inflaming vesicle etc. Body was charred. Burn was about 6 degree. Two oval marks ovsr- front of fW Page 4 of 14 '^' nec.k at thyroid cartilaoe over left side; one oval mark oyer left side of nec.k. On dissection and internal e^amination. he found that tonciue was pale, no carbon particles, absence of sooty carbon par'ticles in trachea. Brain was conaested, trachea was also conaested, left & right lungs were roasted, right chamber of heart was full of blood, whereas, left was emotv. Soleen. liyer & Kidney were roasted. There were no internal or external injuries on her genital part. The doctor further ooined that deceased died due to asohyxia as a result of throttiing and burn injuries present over the body wers postmortem burn in juries. He further ODined that yomitinq could be caused on throttlina. The doctor has cateciorically ooined that in the cases of death due to suicidal burn, carbonparticles invariably found in the trachea. IQ.In ,AAodi's AAsdica! Jurisprudence, 23r Edition, at Page No. 575, s+rangulation is defined as the compression of the neck by a force other than hangin9. Types of strcngulation has been given as (i) ligature str'anaulation, (ii) throttling (manual strangulation- compressing with hand), (iii) muaaina (compressing with forearin or foot or wrist), (iv) Bansdola (wooden stick is used to compress thel neck), (v) garroting (a rope or a loincloth and a wpoden stick as a lever. to tighten the ligation is used), and (vi) aiccidental strangulation (can| arise in the course of a person's occupation when a neck tie or scarf is| cauahtin moying machineryetc.). 1| If the windpipe is not completely closed, the face becomes cyanosed, bleedina occurs fro'm the mouth, nostrils and ears, the hands are clenched and convulsions orecede delayed death. If the finqers are used for stranqulation (thro^linq), marRs of . pressure by thumb and the fingertips are usually found on either side of the windoioe. The thumb mark is ordinarilv hiqhec and wider on the one side of the front of the neck. and the finger marks are situated i" . ^'1^ ~""'^ .^>^> PageS ofl4 on its other side obliquely downwards and outwards and one below the other. At times, marks are found clustered together- so that thev cannot be distinquished seDarateiy. If the throat is sressed bv both the hands, bruises and r - ~ - ^ - - - _ -- ^ abrasions mav be found on the front of the neck as weil as on its back. Besides these marks, abrasjon ond bruises on the mouth, nose, forehead, cheeks, lower iaw or any other oart of the body if there has been a struagle. Fractures of ribs and injuries to thoracic and abdominal orqans may be oresent if the assailant kneels on the chest or abdomen of his victim while pressing his •t+ir'oat. If a stick or a foot is used, there is a bruise in the nniddle of the front of the neck, aeneraily across the windDiDe, corresoondinq in width to the substance used. There wiii be a similar mark on the nape of the neck, if two sticks are used. In such a case, seyeral local inji.iry wil! be evident. tSescribing appearance due to asphyxia caused by stnangulation, it has been obseryed that face is puffy and cyanosed, ond marked with Detechiae. The eyes are Drominent and oDen. In some cases, they may be ctosed. The conjunctiyae are conaested and the pupils| are dilated. Petechiae are seen in the eyelids and the conjunctivae. Tfhe lips are blue. Bloody foam escapes from the mouth and nostrils,^ and sometimss, pure blood issues from the mouth, nose and sdrs, esDeciallv if areat violence has been used. The tonaue is often swollen, bruised, protruding and dark in colour, showing patches|of extranj'asation and occasionally bitten by the teeth. There mcyibe evidence of bruisingat the' back of the neck. The hands are usually clenched. The genital organs may be congested and there mayi;be discharge of urine, faeces ond seminal fluid. . Internal aBoearance '. There is extravasation of blood iritolthe sub-cutaneous tissues under the liooture mark or finaer marks, as|well as in the adiacent musclesof the neck. which are usually lacera+ed. ^—^ > Page 6 of 14 <t.l, % Sometimes, there is laceration of the sheath of the carotid, as also their internal coats with effusion of blood into their walls. The cornua of the hyoid bone may be fractured also the superiorcornuc of thyroid cartilage but fracture of the cervical vertebrae is extreinely rare. The larynx and trachea are congested, and contairis frothy mucus. The cartilaqes of the larynx or the rinqs of the trachea mav be fractured, when considerable force is used. The hyoid bone and suoerior cornude of the thyroid cartilaae are not, 03 a rule, fractured by any other means other than by strangulation.althoyah thelarynx and the trachea may, in rare cases be fractured bv a fall. Lunqs are usually markedly congested shpwing hoemorrhagic patches and petechiqe and exuding dar-k fluid biood on section. Right side of the heart is full of the dark fluid blood and left emDtv. The broncl'iial tubes uaiallv contain frothv. bloodstained mucus. ; To arrive at a conclusion that death was due to strangulation, it is necessary, therefore. to note the effects of violence in the under'lyina tissues in addition to ligature mark or bruise markscaused by the fingers or by the foot, knee and other cppearances of dsath from asDhyxia.At the same time, the Dossibililv of other causesipf suboxic or dsphyxial death should be excluded. i i 11. The doctor (PW-14yhas held that the deceosed suffered 100% cleeD burn of (> degree. From the report it is clear that excspt upiper por'tionof the boick, which was superficially-burnt, rest of the porWon of the body inciudmo left portion of the body, left yppar limb, forearm, right side of ribs, left side of lun§, left side of abdomjnal wal! have been described as comDletelv burntand charred. SinnilaMy, hip bone, right lower limb, right upper limb weire also deeply blinnt. The doctor on the factual finding that there was no sign of inf!am]ing yesication, two oval marks oyer front of the neck at thyroid cartjlage over leftside. one oval mark oyer left side of the neck and absenceof ""«.•. >;.* '^;; ^k^^&^^ij '^ ^^'^^bN^,: ^: Pase 7 of 14 ^J carbon particles and absence of sooty carbon particles in trachea, has held that the deceased died as a result of throttling and burn injuries present over the body were postmortem burn injuries. 12. From perusal of the factual finding in the postmortem report, we observe that important symptoms, which are commonty found in the cases of death due to throtflina, are missing. The factual findings in the Dostmortem reeort do not corresoond to the svmotoms described in the medicai jurisprudence on numerous aspects as would be eyident from comparison of the findings recorded in the postmortem report and internal & external ODDearance that may be found in the cases of death due to stranoutation as a result of throttlinq. bistinction between antemortem ouid postmortem bur-ns has been underlined bv Modi at paae 637, according to which three main ooints to differential between antemortem and oostmortem burns have been laid, which are: (a) line of redness, (ii) vesication; and (iii) reDarative Drocesses. (a) Evidence of Vital Reactions - Line of Redness; In the case of d burn caused during life, a line of redness inyolying the whole true skin is formed around the in jured oart. It is a oermanehl' line, persistin9 eyen after death, but redness or erythemttj which is found bevond this line of redness due to distension df the capillaries, is tnmsient, disoppears under pressure durinai life and fades after death. The line of redhess, being a vital| function. seoarates livina from dead tissues. and is often^ present in burns caused during life, though i-t- takes some time to appear. It is however, possible that it may be absent (in the case of a oerson of a yery weak constitution who dies immediately from shock due to burns). (b) yesicetiorf- Vesication caused by a burn during life contains a serous fluid consistinaof albumen, chlorides, and often a few DolvmorDhonuclear white blood cells and has a red. inflamed <»~- ^ 'l1;-^a. Pa^e 8 of 14 l)M base with raised papillae. The skin surrounding it is of a bright red or copper colour. This is known as true as compared with false vesication which is produced after death. False vesicdtion contains air onlv but mav contain a verv small guontitv of serum connprisina trnces of albumen and chloride. Again, its base is hard, dry, horny and ysllow instead of being red and inflamed. (c) Reparative Processes: Reparative processes, such as signs of inflammation, formation of granulation tissue pus cnd sloughs, will indicate that the burns we.re caused during life. Burhs caused after death show no vitffl! reaction and hwe a dull white q^pearance with the openings of the skin glands coloured grey. The internal oraans are roasted, cuid emit n oeculiar offensive odour. However, Soitz and Fisher have Dointed out i+iat it is not oossible to estabiish, either with the naked eve or bv histoloqica! s.xamination, whether burns occurred shortly before death or soon after. Circumstcntial<evidence alone will provide the answer. Malik has described enzyme changes in the early phdse of heoling skin burns, in guinea pias. 13.In the present case, vital symptoms, such as absence of line of redness has not been mentioned in the reoort. Ta.kina into consideration that almost all the organs of the deceased sustainey 100% 6th degreedeep burn injuries, the body was completely charred, bones were exposed, on the basis of opinion of the doctor based |on the findina in oostmortem regarding absence of carbon Darticlesnh the tongue, absence of soot carbon Ddrticles in trachea and absence of inflaming vesications, it'would be hazardous to arrive at a conclusion that the burn injuries eresent oyer 1+ie body were y— - - p - - - - . - - , Dostmortem in nature. 14.The trial court.on the basis of evidence of Agnuram (PW-7) 1-lalka Patwari, has held that position of various rooms where the incid^it . \ tbok place, ois described in themap of Ex.P-7, is unchallenged and th^; :^ Page 9 of 14 same also correspond to the map of Ex.P-3 prepared by the Inyestiaating Officer Shri N..K. Pulsatya (PW-15). It has been further held that in the night of incident the appellont oind the deceased slept together in •rfie television room described in Ex.P-7 as Room No.l. On the basis of suggestion given to Tikeshwar (PW-6) & Hemlata (PW-10) ond a letter- filed on behalf of the appelldnt on 10.8.2002 in which he had exoressed his susoicion reaardina relationshio between the deceased and Raju @ Narendra fPW-8\ it has been held that the aippellant suspected character of the deceased dnd thus it may be a motiye for commission of crims. IS.Aanuram (PW-7), Halka Patawri, has proved the nazri naksha (Ex.P-7). The same has been prepared as per information of Radheshyam & Madhuri, oarents of the deceased. Place of incident has been described as Ration Room (Room No.3). Distoince from the gate o'f television room to ration.room has been aiyen as 25 feet and body of deceased was at a distcuice of 9 feet from the qate. From the rflao it is clear that to ao to ration room from television room, one has to Oass throuah the Verandah, which is ad iacent to the court^ard. 16. Radheshyam fPW-3) is father of the deceased. i-1e qaye mera intimation of Ex.P-4. This witness has deoosed that the aDDellcuit anci the deceased wera married on 9 . Bidai was done on 12th. On 21st th® appellant and Rukhmani Bai came to his house. In the nightof 22"f ftukhmani Bai was sleeping with his wife Madhuri in the verandahi, whereas, the aoseliant took Rukhmani Bai in the adjacent room bf verandah. l-1e was sleeping in the courtyard. Arfter that Mo.dhuri came out from yerandah to courtyard and thereafter he does not know as to what haooened. In the morninq he saw that Hemlata was sieeping in the next room of the room where Rukhmani Bai & Parasad Ram were sieeoino in the niqht. Healso saw in the morning that smokei was cominq out and his dauahter' Rukhmoni was Ivina. in the burnt 1 condition. Thereafter he says that hesaw smoke coming outfrom thg - -room and he was searching Rukhmcmi. His dauiahter-in-law Hemlatct P^e 10 of 14 :'fc i\" ffW' @ informed him that when she went in the search of sugar, teaetc in the third room, she found Rukhmani in that room. At that time, Parasadi was sitting in the sittin9 room. Whereas, Rukhmani was lying in the burnt condition inside the room- Her dead body was lying under the gronary between the bases (©oda). From the cross-examination, it is evident that this witness has contradicted his merg intimation (Ex.P-4) -lodged ifnmediately after the incident wherein he said that she was sleeDing with hersister-in- law Hemlata, whereas. hisson-in-law was sleeDinq near him. With resoect to omission in the merq intimation that the ODDellant ouid the deceased were sleeDina toqether in a room. he has stated that he does not remeinber whether he stated this to; the Dolice or not. Similarlv, he has contradicted his mera intimation wherein it is mentioned that "he infor-med the police that today in the night all of sudden Rukhmani poured kerosene in her body, set her ablazeand died and he does not know the cause of death". ' 17.A\adhuri (PW-5), mother of deceased, is also a witness of the fdct that Rukhinani was sleepin9 with her, Parsadi asked her to send Rukhmoni to television room whereuoon she sent her to television room, thereafter Rukhmani bolted the door from inside and she went to courtyard where her husband, son & brother were sleeping. ^round 3-3.30 she woke UD and scw that Parsdcii was sittinq on the cot where her younqer son Tikeshwar wffls sleeoino. She went out to ease hersetf. After cominq back, she inguired about Rukhmani frbm Parsadi, however, he did not reoly and started searchinq her. In the f t ~ -••••- •• ; -• - ^ •• • -- , •;• meanwhile, others also woke UD. Thereafter, Parasadi asked to Idok for Rukhmani in the rationroom under the granary between the bases. Tikeshwar & Raju, both saw RuRhmani burning Under the base. She was substantially burnt. In the cross-examination, she has admitt'ed that there (s a custom in their society thatjafter marridae |the sdaughter returns to her morternal home vuith husbond. She hasailjso admitted that Raju ©Narendra, son of her sister, is residen-ti of Page 11 of 14 it Village Megha where her daughter took training of sewing for six months. She resided with her sister Laxmibai in the house of Raju. She has also deposed thaf Raju stayed in their home for two years before the marriage of Rukhnioini. She has also stated that it is correct to say that if Raju ond Rukhmani fell in love while he resided in her house, she does not know. Rukhmimi Bai never to!d her about any love affair and it is incorrect to say that this news soread in the village and she neyer heard this. In para-12 she has stoted that she woke up after Hemlata. Hemlata woke up at 6.00 and went to ration room. IS.Tikeshwar (PW-6) is the brother of the deceased. He deposed that he was sleeping in the courtyard. Narendra & Jitendra were also sleeping near him, whereas, f^trasadi and his sister were sleepinaj in the television room. He sleot in the niaht and woke uo at 6.30. He saw that smoke was cominq from the third room. Villaqers were shoufinq that Rukhmani is burnt. Room frorn where smoke was coming was closed. Parsadi opened it and this was told to him by his mothep. 1-ie did not qo to the room from where smoke was cominq. This witness has also stated ttiat he does not know that there was anv love affair between Ra.ju and Rukhiriani. In the niqht of incident they atl four had consumed liquor. 19 Narendra Kumar (PW-8) has deposed thcrl- on 22.5.2002 he was |in villaae Parkhanda and met Rukhmani & Parsadi. One hour after ihiis arrival Jitendra also reached there. l-1e along with Parsadi & Jitendrct went out for walk. They purchased a bottle of liquor while returning, consurned the liquor outside'the house and after taking dinner they again went out and returned around 10-10.30 p.m. in the night. He sleot in the courtvard with Jitendra. Babu, father of Rukhmani, Tikeshwar & Maidhuri were also sleeping in the courtyard in separafe cots. Appellont Parsadi d Ru.khmani went to sleep in the last room vyhere oaddv is keot oyer base. He woke UD in the morninq and went ' ; tovuards kitchen-qarden. Whenhe returned froml kitchen qarden, he Page 12ofl4 saw that there was commotion as Rukhmani was not in the house. Thev started searchina her. When the door of ration room was opened, smo.ke wois coming out. When they opened the latches of granary, they found Rukhmani inside it. She was burning. In Para-16 he has stated that when they saw smoke coming from the room, all of them went there ond he had opened the gate of granary where Rukhmoni was burnina. 20.1-iemlata (PW-10), sister-in-law of the deceased, has deposed that Rukhmani slept in the courtyard with her mother. Her husband called her in ths other room in the niqht. She wos in the middle room. She sleot in the niqht. In the morninq she saw that smoke was comina from the ration room, whereuoon, she informed the others. Parsadi himse!f said that how the sinoke is cominq from ihe.rs. Thereafter. Raiu & Tikeshwar went inside and saw Rukhmani burnina under the 6oda. In Para-2 she has stated thdt when Raiu went in the Parsadi's room to brina Hemraj oil. Parsadi came out of the room and said ao and see what is haBDening in that room. In the cross-examination she has admitted that everv room is accessible from the courtyary. ftation room was ODened in the morninq bv Parsadi, TikeshwarA Raiu. Tikeshwar oointed