The admissibility and reliability of dying declarations, the need for corroboration, and the requirement for the deceased to be in a sound state of mind are crucial legal principles established in the judgment.

JUDGMENT :

M.G. Sewlikar, J.

1. This appeal is preferred by the original accused No. 2 against the judgment and order dated 04.09.2012 in Sessions Case No. 4/2012 passed by the Adhoc Additional Sessions Judge, Osmanabad, whereby accused No. 2 has been convicted of the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and has been sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life and fine of Rs. 5,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for one year. Accused Nos. 1 to 3 have been acquitted of the offence punishable under Section 498A r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. Accused Nos. 1 and 3 have been acquitted of the offence punishable under Section 307 r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

2. Prosecution case can be briefly stated as under:-

Deceased Hasinabee was the wife of accused No. 1. Accused No. 2 (appellant herein) is the father-in-law of the deceased Hasinabee and accused No. 3 is the mother-in-law of the deceased Hasinabee. PW 3 Dadamiyan is the brother of the deceased Hasinabee and PW 4 Rashidabee is the mother of the deceased Hasinabee. It is the case of the prosecution that marriage between accused No. 1 and the deceased Hasinabee was solemnized about one year before the incident. Accused Nos. 1 to 3 were staying together at the time of marriage. The deceased was maintained well for a period of one month after marriage. Thereafter, all the accused started ill-treating her saying that she is a bad cook and that she could not do household chores and used to beat her. It is also the case of the prosecution that accused No. 2/appellant used to demand sexual favour from the deceased Hasinabee. He used to say that she should allow him to share bed. She had informed PW 3 and PW 4 about the ill-treatment on telephone. When she refused to oblige accused No. 2, accused No. 2 beat her. Therefore, accused No. 1 showed a willingness to live separately from accused Nos. 2 and 3 and demanded Rs. 20,000/- from PW 3 Dadamiya. PW 3 paid Rs. 20,000/- to accused No. 1 but he did not live separately. On 17.01.2011 at about 5.30 pm, he received phone call from an unknown number that his sister Hasinabee had suffered burn injuries and she was admitted to Civil Hospital, Osmanabad. On reaching Osmanabad, he asked the deceased about the incident and she told him that the appellant said to her that she should allow him to share bed and when she refused, he poured kerosene on her and set her on fire.

3. The deceased was admitted in the hospital by the appellant. Intimation of admission of burnt patient was given to the Police Station vide letter Exhibit 28. PW 2 Police Naik Rajasab Fulari approached Medical Officer Dr. Pathan. After obtaining certificate of fitness of Hasinabee to give dying declaration from Dr. Pathan, he recorded the dying declaration of the deceased on 17.01.2011. In the dying declaration, the deceased stated that on 17.01.2011 at 4.00 to 5.00 pm, all the accused along with her brother-in-law, were present. They started saying that she did not do household chores. Her father-in-law i.e. the appellant said as to why she did not allow him to share bed and poured kerosene on her and set her on fire. It is also stated in the dying declaration that when people gathered, the appellant poured water on her and extinguished the fire and admitted her to the hospital.

4. On the basis of this dying declaration, offence under Section 498-A, 307 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code was registered by Osmanabad Police Station and since the offence pertains to Naldurg Police Station, investigation was handedover to Naldurg Police Station. On 18.01.2011, at about 12.40 am, Hasinabee died during treatment. Accordingly, intimation was given by the Medical Officer to the Police Station Osmanabad vide intimation Exhibit 45.

5. During the investigation, statements of the witnesses were recorded, clothes of accused Nos. 1 to 3 were seized and spot panchanama was drawn. From the spot of the incident, a can of ker