JUDGMENT - M.F. SALDANHA, J.:---This is yet one more of those gory and ghastly cases of wife burning that has come up before the Court. We do not mean to be prejudiced but at the same time we cannot hide the fact that these incident are so horrifying and depraved that the Court has to re-act to them with the degree of seriousness that such incidents necessarily require. The appellant is the surviving husband and the deceased Vijaya is the unfortunate wife. The appellant accused Vithal Sadashiv Gaikwad is an Ex-service man, from the Army and was residing at village Hamdabad, District Satara. He was aged approximately 36 years and there are references on record that he was earlier married and that he had three children through his previous wife. Indications are that the first wife also met with a fiery end and that even though the police registered offences against him, that the same was done at a belated stage and that consequently nothing came out of that prosecution. The present marriage with Vijaya was hardly six months old on 25-10-1990 which is the date of the incident. At about 6.00 p.m. in the evening Vijaya was heard screaming for help as her clothes were on fire and people rushed to her rescue and extinguished the flames. By that time she was extensively burnt and was therefore removed to the Satara Civil Hospital. She is alleged to have been fully conscious and to have stated to P.W. 2 Gyandeo Jotiba Dhane, P.W. 3, Ashok Sadashiv Shinde and P.W. 4 Hanmanth Waman Salunke who are the persons who came to her assistance, and ultimately removed her to the hospital, that it was her husband Vithal who had set fire to her clothes after pouring kerosene on her. She also indicated the reason which was to the effect that he was addicted to Alchohol and that he used to turn violent and beat her up on the ground that he suspected her fidelity. According to her these were the reasons for Vithal to have decided to finish her off.

2. The prosecution alleges that Vijaya was conscious when she was admitted to the Satara Civil Hospital and that W.P. 7 P.H.C. Vithal Kikale who was attached to the Hospital Casualty section took down her statement which was in the form of a dying declaration and which was ultimately treated as the F.I.R. in this case which is at Exhibit 20. Arrangements were made to call the Tahsildar who is P.W. 5 Anant Deshpande and after his arrival, the formal dying declaration of Vijaya was taken down which is at Exhibit 24. We also have on record a third dying declaration which is at Exhibit 29 which was recorded by the Police Officer P.W. 8 P.S.I. Janardan Tiwate, who was attached to the Satara Taluka Police Station and who is the investigating Officer in this case. He visited the hospital on the next morning i.e. on 26th and according to him he asked deceased Vijaya as to what exactly had transpired and he recorded her statement which has been produced before the Court. In all therefore quite apart from the oral dying declarations made to P.Ws. 2, 3 and 4 we have three written dying declarations in this case and the central issue canvassed before us is the question as to whether the Court ought to accept this mass of evidence either individually or cumulatively because of certain infirmities that have been pointed out. We shall deal with that point presently.

3. The P.S.I. thereafter made efforts to arrest the accused who had been named as the person responsible for Vijayas condition. Vijaya died in the hospital on 26-10-1990 and the prosecution alleges that inspite of regular and persistent efforts on the part of the Police, the accused could not be traced not only in that village but in any of the five to six villages where the Police looked for him and kept a watch and that ultimately he was arrested as late as on 7-12-1990 when he was seen in Satara. This circumstance of abscontion is strongly canvassed by the prosecution against the accused. On completion of the investigation in this case, the accused was put on

Click Here to Read the rest of this document