Case: Vanga Sriniwas Vs. Public Prosecutor, High Court Of A.P

The case of the prosecution is briefly stated hereunder:-The appellant herein was the sole accused in Sessions Case No. 314 of 1998 on the file of II Addl. District and Sessions Judge (FTC), Nizamabad. On 24.01.1997, at about 11.00 a.m., the accused caused the death of his wife - Vanga Vimala by throttling her neck and in order to screen the said offence, hanged her dead body to the ceiling fan. The further charge was that the accused was harassing the deceased for dowry. The father of the deceased was examined as PW 1 and PW 2 is wife of PW 1. The deceased was given in marriage to the accused one year prior to the date of incident. The accused and the prosecution witnesses are residents of Gajulapet village. PWs 3 to 6 who are all residents of the same village deposed about the quarrel between the deceased and the accused regarding dowry and other matters. The offence took place on 24.01.1997 at about 11.00 a.m. After coming to know the incident, PW 1 rushed to the house of the accused and found the deceased her daughter hanging to the ceiling fan with a new saree. He made a complaint to the police (Ex. P-1) based on which a crime was registered. Based on the complaint of PW 1, the police took up investigation, noted the scene of offence, conducted inquest over the dead body of the deceased, sent the dead body for post-mortem examination, examined the witnesses and recorded their statements. The accused was arrested on 03.02.1997 and after receipt of the final opinion from the doctor, who conducted post-mortem examination and after completion of the investigation, the police laid the chargeprosecution, in order to prove the guilt of the accused, examined as many as PWs 1 to 14 and marked Ex. P1 to P14. No oral or documentary evidence was adduced on the defence side. The learned Sessions Judge, by judgment dated 25.04.2003 after finding that the doctor who conducted post-mortem cannot decide preliminarily that the death was suicidal or homicidal and the prosecution failed to establish that the accused himself is connected with the death of the deceased, acquitted the accused under Section 235(1) Cr.P.C. for the offence under Sections 302, 201 or 304Bthe correctness of the acquittal of the trial Court, the State through its Public Prosecutor filed Criminal Appeal No. 2339 of 2004 before the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The Division Bench, by the impugned order dated 11.10.2006, after accepting the case of the prosecution and considering the entire circumstances and finding that the prosecution has established the guilt for offence under Section 302 beyond reasonable doubt sentenced the accused to undergo imprisonment for life and also to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for 6 months. Challenging the said order of the Division Bench, the accused has preferred the present appeal before this Court.

Reasoning: Considering the fact that the alleged occurrence took place on 24.01.1997 and the appellant/accused undergone the agony for more than ten years, we are of the view that a sentence of seven years would meet the ends of justice. Accordingly, we modify the conviction and sentence imposed by the High Court; instead the appellant/accused is convicted under Section 304 B IPC and impose a sentence of seven years rigorous imprisonment.