ORDER

1. This appeal, at the instance of the State of Madhya Pradesh, arises out of the following facts:

2. The first wife of the Respondent (hereinafter called "the accused"), had died of tuberculosis and several years prior to the date of occurrence (19th October 2003) he had started living with Leelawati Bai deceased as a second wife. Out of this arrangement, 4 daughters, namely, Sandhya about 6 years, Lovely 3 years, Madhu 1 year and Jyoti 10 or 11 years had been born. As Leelawati Bai had abandoned her previous husband and belonged to a community different from that of the accused, she had not been accepted as a member of his family and even otherwise there was suspicion that she was not of good character. On the evening of 18th October 2003 the accused went to see a dance performance at Chandiya. He, however, returned home at about 1.00 a.m. i.e. in the early morning hours of 19th October 2003 before the performance had ended and after picking up a plastic can which contained kerosene oil, he poured the oil on his wife and four daughters. Jyoti who was the eldest, woke up and tried to escape but the accused got hold of her and in that process, he too sustained burn injuries on