The prosecution established that the accused subjected the deceased to continuous harassment for dowry, leading to her suicide within seven years of marriage, warranting conviction under Section 304-B IPC.

JUDGMENT

A.V.RAVINDRA BABU, J. - The judgment, dtd. 6/8/2010, in Sessions Case No.25 of 2008 on the file of the Court of Special Sessions Judge-cum-IV Additional District and Sessions Judge, Chittoor at Tirupati (for short, "the learned Additional Sessions Judge"), is under challenge in the present Criminal Appeal filed by the appellant, who was the unsuccessful accused No.1 in the aforesaid Sessions Case.

2. The appellant herein (A-1) faced trial under Sec. 304-B of the INDIAN PENAL CODE , 1860 (for short, "the IPC") before the learned Additional Sessions Judge and he was found guilty of the charge under Sec. 304-B IPC as such he was convicted under Sec. 235(2) Cr.P.C and was sentenced to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for 7 years.

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

4. The Sessions Case No.25 of 2008 arose out of the committal order in Preliminary Registration Case (PRC) No.53 of 2007 on the file of the Court of III Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Tirupati (for short, "the learned Magistrate") pertaining to Crime No.6 of 2007 of Chandragiri Police Station, Chittoor District for the offence under Sec. 304-B IPC.

5. The Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Tirupati (LW.23) filed charge sheet in Crime No.6 of 2007 of Chandragiri Police Station alleging the offence under Sec. 304-B IPC against the accused Nos.1 to 3. The case of the prosecution, in brief, as set out in the charge sheet, is as follows:

(i) The marriage of K. Varalakshmi (hereinafter referred to as "the deceased") was celebrated with one K. Dharmaiah (A-1) 6 years prior to the incident, as per the Hindu rites and customs. At that time, parents of the deceased gave cash of Rs.30, 000.00 and 8 sovereigns of gold ornaments, apart from the household articles. After marriage, the deceased joined with the company of accused and lived happily for 10 days. Later, all the accused started harassing the deceased for want of additional articles and Ugadi Sangyam. The parents of the deceased failed to comply their demand. On that count, accused continuously harassed the deceased both physically and mentally. In this connection, Dalavayi Mani Kumar @ Mani (LW.6) and Pediri Krishna Reddy (LW.7) held mediation many times but in vain. The sister-in-law of the deceased viz., Rekha also threatened the deceased for want of additional dowry and instigated accused No.1 to demand additional amounts from the deceased. Deceased informed her parents about the harassment made by all the accused. Ultimately, unable to bear with the harassment, the deceased, on 8/1/2007, committed suicide by consuming pesticide poison. Having come to know about the incident, Valipi Nagamma (LW.1), mother of the deceased, presented a report to the Police. (ii) On the strength of the report made by the mother of deceased, the Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, Chandragiri Police Station (LW.22), registered the report as a case in Crime No.6 of 2007 for the offence under Sec. 304-B IPC and submitted copies of FIR to all the concerned. The SDPO, Tirupati (LW.23), during