JUDGMENT :

This Criminal Appeal, under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, ‘the Cr.P.C’), is filed by the appellant, who was the accused in Sessions Case No.80 of 2009, on the file of the Court of IV Additional District and Sessions Judge, Visakhapatnam (for short, “the learned Additional Sessions Judge”), challenging the judgment, dated 26.07.2010, where under the learned Additional Sessions Judge found the accused guilty of the offence under Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, “the IPC”), convicted him under Section 235(2) Cr.P.C and, after hearing about the quantum of sentence, sentenced him to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for ten (10) years.

2. The parties to this Criminal Appeal will hereinafter be referred to as described before the trial Court, for the sake of convenience.

3. The Sessions Case No.80 of 2009 on the file of the Court of learned Additional Sessions Judge arose out of PRC No.17 of 2009 on the file of the Court of Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Yellamanchili (for short, “the learned Magistrate”) pertaining to Crime No.2 of 2009 of Rambilli Police Station, which was committed to the Court of Session.

4. The case of the prosecution, in brief, according to the averments in the charge sheet, filed by the State, represented by the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Narsipatnam, Sub- Division, Narsipatnam in the above Crime, is as follows: The accused is a resident of Darabhogapuram Village of Rambilli Mandal and he is a Tailor. One Appikonda Nagamani (for short, “the deceased”), daughter of Anakapalli Venkata Ramana, was married to the accused on 18.03.2006 according to their caste custom at Dharabogapuram village. LW.1 – A. Venkata Ramana and LW.2 – A. Satyavathi are the father and mother and LW.3 – Anakapalli Siva is the brother of the deceased. Both the accused and deceased lived happily for about two years. After the marriage, they were not blessed with any children. Accused started harassing the deceased attributing that she did not conceive pregnancy due to her ill-health and used to abuse and beat her subjecting her to cruelty. On 20.08.2008, the marriage of brother of deceased i.e., LW.3 was performed by his parents. The accused, who is under the impression that LW.3 got more dowry from his in-laws, started insisting the deceased to bring dowry pointing out that her parents got money from in-laws of LW.3. The deceased tried to convince the accused that her parents did not have the money. The accused did not hear her and intensified his harassment physically and mentally by beating her. He also attributed to her that they have no children because of her only. The deceased used to inform her parents about the behaviour of the accused and the harassment caused to her by the accused. LW.1 and LW.2 used to ask her to adjust herself and to live with the accused. But the accused did not change his behaviour. On 01.01.2009, the accused stayed back at his house without going for work on the plea that he is not well and started abusing and beating her. He threatened to kill her. At about 03:30 p.m. accused asked the deceased to prepare tea for him and when the deceased went inside, the accused closed the doors, kept her inside, beat her and took her to the rear room, picked up kerosene tin, poured kerosene on her head and drenched her with kerosene and poured some kerosene on himself and firstly set fire on her with a lighted kerosene lamp. In view of that the deceased was caught in flames and sustained severe burns covering 86% of total area of her body. Accused also received burns. When the deceased raised hue and cry, her mother-in-law, LW.6 – Appikonda Ramalaxmi, LW.7 – Sirimalla Nagamani and others came there and rescued them from their further burning and took both of them to the Government Hospital, Anakapalli in 108 Ambulance and from there to K.G. Hospital, Visakhapatnam for expert treatment. They have seized half burnt pillow, deepam buddi, emp