Judgment :

SURINDER SINGH NIJJAR, J.

1. This appeal has been filed against the judgment and order of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad, in Criminal Appeal No. 582/2004 wherein the Hon'ble Court was pleased to dismiss the appeal of the accused appellant herein and upholding his conviction for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 498A IPC.

2. The case of the prosecution was that, Shaminabee, since deceased, was married to one Shaikh Sattar (hereinafter referred to as the appellant) about four years before the fateful incident. Sk. Hasham (hereinafter referred to as A2) was the father-in-law of the deceased, Sk. Sikander (hereinafter referred to as A3) was the brother-in-law while Zubedabee (hereinafter referred to as A4) was the mother-in-law of the deceased. After marriage, the deceased started residing with the accused at their house. The appellant used to teach the local children in the masjid at Village Chikalthana. It was alleged that he used to complain that it was not possible to maintain his family with an income of Rs.500/- to Rs.600/- per month. After about one and a half to two years of the marriage, appellant started demanding Rs. 40,000/- from his in-laws for the purpose of starting a business. As the parents of the wife were unable to meet the demand, he used to beat her up frequently. The deceased had reported to her parents about the maltreatment meted out to her whenever she came to the house of her parents. The couple had a son who was aged about two to two and a half years at the time. Appellant and the deceased along with their son had come to the parental home of the deceased on the occasion of Ramzaan-Id on 17.1.2000. They had stayed there for a couple of days. Even then the appellant had inquired as to what arrangement had been made to fulfill his demand of Rs. 40,000/-. He was told by the brother of the deceased that the family may be able to arrange after the sugarcane harvest. On hearing this, the appellant rather angrily said "alright" and left the house in a huff with the deceased, without even taking food.

3. On 22.1.2000, at around 10.00 a.m., the parents of the deceased received a message about the ill health of Shaminabee. Consequently, the parents, other family members and brother of the deceased went to the house of the appellant in a tempo. On reaching the house, they saw the dead body of Shaminabee in the interior of the house. It was placed in a room which had a roof made of clay and wood. The deceased had sustained severe bleeding injuries on her head. Blood was still oozing from her nostrils and ears. A big stone with blood stains was lying near her dead body. The clothes of the deceased were also blood stained.

4. The dead body of Shaminabee was taken to the Ghati Hospital at Aurangabad for post mortem examination, after preparing the inquest report. Upon completion of the post mortem, she was taken to the village of the deceased, where she was buried.

5. It was only on the next day that the father lodged a complaint against the appellant at the Police Station Phulambri which was registered as FIR at 16:30 hours on 23.1.2000. We may also notice that earlier a report had been lodged by Sk. Nawab and Sk. Bashir, Police Patil of Village Naigaon regarding death of Shaminabee. Although the aforesaid report is not based on the personal knowledge of the Police Patil, it indicated that Shaminabee had died of an accident when a stone fell on her head. It was stated that the stone fell on her head while she was removing a quilt from the tin roof of a shed constructed in front portion of the house. On the basis of the aforesaid report, A.D. No. 4/2004 was registered at Police Station, Phulambri. The panchnama of the dead body and the scene of incident were duly prepared. The police also seized a number of material objects, i.e., the clothes of the deceased Shaminabee, salwar and odhni, the lungi and the "nicker" of the appellant. A mat and a quilt as well as a stone we