IMPORTANT POINT
Sex workers are also entitled to live with dignity. There is need to take steps for their rehabilitation.

ORDER

Heard learned counsel for the appellant.

2. This Appeal has been filed against the impugned judgment and order dated 25th July, 2007 passed by the High Court of Calcutta in C.R.A. No. 487 of 2004.

3. The facts have been set out in the impugned judgment and hence we are not repeating the same here except wherever necessary.

4. This is a case of brutal murder of a sex worker. Sex workers are also human beings and no one has a right to assault or murder them. A person becomes a prostitute not because she enjoys it but because of poverty. Society must have sympathy towards the sex workers and must not look down upon them. They are also entitled to a life of dignity in view of Article 21 of the Constitution.

5. In the novels and stories of the great Bengali Writer Sharat Chand Chattopadhyaya, many prostitutes have been shown to be women of very high character, e.g., Rajyalakshmi in ‘Shrikant’, Chandramukhi in ‘Devdas’ etc. The plight of prostitutes has been depicted by the great Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi in his poem ‘Chakle’ which has been sung in the Hindi film Pyasa “Jineh Naaz Hai Hind Per wo kahan hain” (simplified version of the verse ‘Sana Khwan- e-taqdees-e-Mashrik Kahan Hain’).

6. We may also refer to the character Sonya Marmelodov in Dostoyevsky’s famous novel ‘Crime and Punishment’. Sonya is depicted as a girl who sacrifices her body to earn some bread for her impoverished family.

7. Reference may also be made to Amrapali, who was a contemporary of Lord Buddha.

8. In the present case, the incident happened on 17th September, 1999 at about 9.15 p.m. The deceased Chayay Rani Pal alias Buri was living in a red light area and was a resident of Room No.8 of Premises No.19, Jogen Dutta Lane in Calcutta. She was evidently a sex worker. The appellant Budhadev kicked her with fists and legs, and she fell down on the floor. The appellant then caught her by her hair and banged her head against the floor and the wall several times which left the victim bleeding from her ear, nose and head. The incident was witnessed by four persons, Pw2-Abida, PW4- Maya, PW7-Asha and PW8-Parvati.

9. PW2-Abida has deposed that she saw the appellant- accused catching the victim by her hair and banging her head against the wall. The victim was profusely bleeding through her nose and mouth. On seeing this, Abida started shouting and then the accused pushed her and went down and fled away. PW8-Parvati saw the victim being mercilessly beaten by the accused-appellant, and the same is the evidence of PW7-Asha. In the post mortem, as many as 11 injuries on the body of the victim were found, eight of which were on various parts of the face and forehead.

10. The police was informed about the incident over the telephone as is evident from the testimony of PW2 Abida. After the police arrived on the spot, sample of the blood spilled from the body of the victim was collected and photographs taken. The victim was brought by Asha Khatoon and others to the hospital where she was found ‘dead on arrival’. Blood was oozing out from her ear and nostril. There was swelling on the left eyeball and left eyebrow. Thus, the medical evidence corroborates the ocular testimony.

11. PW10-Dr. Amitava Das, the Medical Officer who held the post mortem examination of the dead body of deceased Chhaya Rani Pal found the following injuries on her person:

1) Abrasion 1" x = “ over the nose just below the nasal bridge.

2) Abrasion = “ x = “ over left side forehead = “ above left eyebrow 3” left to midline.

3) Abrasion = “ x = “ over left side of forehead just over the left eye brow 2” left mid line. 4) Bruise 2" x 1" over left upper eye lid.

5) Bruise 2" x 1" over anterior aspect of mid part of nose.

6) Abrasion = “ x < “ over right side of forehead 1” above right eye brow 2" right to mid line.

7) Abrasion 2" x 1" over right side of face just below the right eye and just right to outer canthus of right eye.

8) Lacerated wound = “ x < “ x scalp over left partial region 4 = “ left to anterior