The prosecution must establish circumstantial evidence beyond reasonable doubt to support a conviction; mere suspicion is insufficient.

JUDGMENT :

Goutam Bhaduri, J.

1. The instant appeal is against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 30.01.2021 passed by the learned Second Additional Sessions Judge, Durg in Sessions Trial No.93 of 2019, whereby the appellant stands convicted and sentenced as under :

2. Before the trial Court, 4 accused were tried i.e., Hemchand (A-1), Teekaram Sahu (A-2), Manish Sahu (A-3) and Shivkumar Sahu (A-4). All other appellants Teekaram Sahu Manish Sahu and Shivkumar Sahu have been acquitted. The present appellant Hemchand @ Hemu (A-1) Sahu has been convicted as aforementioned. Hence this appeal.

3. (i) The case of the prosecution in brief is that appellant Hemchand Sahu was earlier married to Minta Sahu. However, subsequently, he enticed away the deceased Menaka Sahu and performed marriage. The appellant used to stay at village Khapri and at Karelibadi he used to grow the Banans, Papaya etc. Subsequently after the marriage on 05.01.2019 the first wife of Hemchand namely Minta Bai Sahu lodged a report at Police Station Dhamdha on 23.12.2018, her husband Hem Chand Sahu @ Hemu Sahu (A-1) and the wife Menaka Sahu have left the home and having enquired their whereabouts could not be found, therefore, a missing report was lodged vide Report No.0/2019. During the enquiry, it was found that when Menaka Sahu when used to go as a labour to the farm-house of the accused, she fell in love, thereafter, they got married. Because of the second marriage, frequent quarrels used to take place at home, therefore, both the wives were kept in different rooms of the same premises. During the course of enquiry, on 24.12.2018 certain information was received by the Police that at Ramgolai Ghat of of Police Station Salhewara, 2nd turn below the main road, the dead body of an unknown woman aged about 22-25 years was found in a half burnt state in the ditch, therefore, the merg was registered.

(ii) Thereafter on 20.2.2019 ASI Santuram who was posted in Dhamdha Police Station went to Salhewara Police Station along with staff and and deceased’s father Ramesh Sahu and other relatives. When photographs of the unknown woman were shown there, Manaka Sahu’s father and family members identified her as Maneka Sahu. Before the dead body was identified as it was of an unknown woman, postmortem was conducted as family members were not found. Thereafter, the dead body was buried in the cremation ground near Chhuikhadan mortuary. After considerable time when the doubts were over by identifying the photographs, the dead-body was exhumed and further identification process was carried-out wherein the father of missing woman and other relatives identified her as Maneka Sahu. After completing the identification process, the dead body was again buried and few bone samples were obtained for D.N.A tests.

(iii) Subsequently, the appellant was apprehended and on enquiry he revealed that because of quarrels which took place on 23.11.2018 between first wife and second wife (the deceased), the accused assaulted his second wife Menka Sahu by way of club and thereafter, in the night with the help of other relative accused, he got the dead body burnt and threw it near Salhewara forest. During the course of investigation, the memorandum was recorded and the blood samples of mother and father and the tibia bone of deceased were sent for FSL examination wherein it was affirmed that the dece