Govindaraju vs State Of Karnataka

1. In this appeal which has been filed by one Govindaraju, original accused No. 1 before the Trial Court (appellant herein), the challenge is against his conviction for the offence under Section 304B Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the consequent punishment of rigorous imprisonment for seven years. Initially, the appellant/accused Govindaraju was tried for offence under Section 302 and/or 304B, IPC along with his father and mother, accused Nos. 2 and 3 respectively as also his brother Vasu, accused No.4. They were tried for the murder of Susheela, the wife of Govindaraju (present appellant) which took place on the night between 28/29 Janunay, 1987 in her matrimonial home which was No. CH.27/1, 6th Cross, Ashokapuram, Mysore.

2. Eventually, we are not concerned with accused Nos. 2 and 3 and also the accused No.4, Vasu, as the accused No. 2 Krishnaiah and 2 accused No. 3, Eramma @ Marimadamma died during the pendency of the trial and accused No. 4 was acquitted both by Sessions Court and the High Court. Initially, both the accused No.1 (for short "A-1") and his brother accused No. 4 (for short "A-4") were acquitted by the 1 st Additional Sessions Judge, Mysore. However, in appeal by the State against this acquittal, the present appellant Govindaraju was convicted for the offence under Section 304B, IPC and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years. That is how the accused is before us in this appeal.

3. The prosecution case was that Susheela was married to the present appellant on 25.05.1986. The original accused Nos. 2 and 3 were parents of the present appellant, while A-4, with whom we are not concerned, was his brother. Susheela died due to burn injuries in her matrimonial home on the night of 28/29 January, 1987. She had no father. Hence, her matrimonial uncle, Ram Krishan had celebrated her marriage. After he came to know about the death of Susheela, he filed a complaint at 9:30 a.m. on 29.01.1987 on the basis of which the further investigation was started and the charge-sheet was filed against the four accused persons. Even before that, A-2, Krishnaiah expired and hence the charges were framed against accused Nos. 1, 3 and 4 for the offence under Section 302, 304B, 201 read with Section 34, IPC.

4. After the charges were framed, A-3 Eramma @ Marimadamma also expired and, therefore, the evidence was recorded only against the appellant/original accused No.1 Govindaraju and his brother A-4, Vasu. The prosecution case initially was that at the time of marriage the accused had demanded the dowry of Rs.5,000/- and even thereafter during the subsistence of marriage he kept on pestering Susheela and her uncle for dowry. At the time when Susheela expired she was pregnant. She was treated by her in-laws in a cruel manner and ultimately murdered, or as the case may be, she committed suicide due to the cruel treatment of her in- laws and her husband. As a result of this, she died barely within a few months of her marriage. In support of the prosecution case number of witnesses came to be examined including PW-1, her matrimonial uncle, PW-2, her brother, PW-3 another elderly relative and her mother as also some other relations including PW-4 along with other witnesses on investigation and the medical aspect.

16. In that view, we hold that the judgment convicting the accused of the offence under Section 304B, IPC is correct and the appeal has no merits. It is accordingly dismissed.