R. N. Aggarwal, J.

( 1 ) THE appellant Prabhu Dayal has been convicted for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to imprisonment for life. Dissatisfied with the conviction and sentence, he has come in appeal.

( 2 ). Prabhu Dayal was married to the deceased Smt. Sarita Gupta in 1975. Sarita gave birth to three children, two daughters and a son. The daughters were, at the time of the occurrence, aged 6 and 4 and the son was 8 or 9 months old. The couple resided on the second floor of D-II, Naraina Vihar. The apartment in occupation of the couple was a single room with bath, latrine and a terrace. The living room was also used as a kitchen.

( 3 ) ON 20th December 1982 at 11. 45 a. m. Prabhu Dayal went to the police station Naraina and gave information that that day at about 1115 a m. his wife Sarita Gupta, aged 28 years, who was mentally retarded has set herself on fire by sprinkling kerosene oil on her person and that he has come to report the matter.

( 4 ) THE report, copy of which is Ex. Public Witness 4/b was recorded in the daily diary. Sub-Inspector Ram Phal Singh along with Raghbir Prasad constable and Prabhu Dayal went to D-ll, Naraina Vihar-the scene of the occurance. P. W. 16 Sub-Inspector Ram Phal Singh found Sarita lying in burnt condition on the floor inside the room. Public Witness. 16 leaving Raghbir Prasad at the spot to guard the place of incident alongwith Prabhu Dayal removed Sarita to Safdarjung hospital. Sarita was admitted in the hospital at 12. 50 p. m. Ex. PW 7/c is the medico legal report regarding Sarita. It records that the patient herself has stated that she was set on fire by her husband P. D. Gupta at about 11 a. m. at the residence. The medico legal report further records that the patient is fully conscious and coherent. Public Witness. 16 went to the Patiala House courts and took the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Shri K. Shivaramakrishnan to the Safdarjung hospital for recording the statement of Saritua. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate after obtaining the permission of the doctor recorded the statement Ex. Public Witness 5/a of Saria. The statement is as follows:

"my husband set me ablaze after sprinkling kerosene oil on me. Before that he gave me severe beatings. He had closed me in a room after setting me on fire. I cried loudly but he did not open the door. This incident had taken place this morning but I did not remember the time. My husband had left for his breakfast after setting me on fire and closing me inside the room. He came after about two hours. He after opening the door put a blanket on me and left the place. I kept on calling him but the voice did not reach as our house is situated on the 2nd floor. I was admitted in the hospital by my husband himself. My husband used to give me severe beatings. I have got three cldren. We have clashes off and on. "i was married about 6 years ago. The clashes had started recently. The querrel started taking place from the day when I gave birth to my youngest son. My youngest son is about 8/9 months of age. There was no particular reason for clash. But he used to hold out threats of giving beatings to me, and often used to beat me.

( 5 ) PUBLIC Witness. 16 with his endorsement Ex. Public Witness 8/a sent the report Ex. PW5/a to the police station for formal registration of the case and on the basis of which the formal report Ex. Public Witness 5/b was recorded at the police station at 2. 35 p. m. Sarita succumbed to the Injuries at 9 p. m.

( 6 ) DR. Rohotaswa (P. W. 9) performed the post-mortem on the dead body of Sarita Gupta on 21st December 1982 and he noted the following injuries on her body : 1. Superficial and deep burns were present all over the body. Peeling of skin with vital reaction present at places. Blackening of skin present at places. Singeing of scalp hair, eye brows, eye lashes and pubic hair present. 2. Contusion I cm xl cm size over upper lateral quarter of left breast. The doctor further noted that

Click Here to Read the rest of this document