PRADEEP NANDRAJOG, J.

1. Wrought with discrimination and prejudiced by rituals, Indian society has dealt the girl child a rough hand starting even before her birth and ending with the dusk of her life. Amidst uproar of gender equality and law enforcement, female infants are found dumped in the trash, by the dozens, and unborn female foetuses continue to be sniffed in the womb. The present case highlights the unfortunate plight of the girl child where the parents and siblings of the deceased girl, betrayed the love and trust reposed by the deceased in them by helping her wrongdoers to go scot free.

2. Process of criminal law was set into motion when at around 3.00 P.M. on 31.01.2002 Const. Pappu Singh PW-5, recorded an entry in the daily diary Ex.PW-5 noting therein that one Trilok Singh PW-2, came to Police Station Tilak Nagar and informed that his sister Pinki Kaur (hereinafter referred to as the “deceased”) has died at her matrimonial house bearing Municipal No.B-58, Tilak Vihar, Delhi and that he suspects some foul play in the death of the deceased. A copy of the aforesaid DD entry was handed over to SI Anil Kumar PW-17, for investigation upon which accompanied by Const. Vinod Kumar he proceeded to the house in question where he found that the deceased was lying dead on the floor of a room in the house in question; that there was a ligature mark on the neck of the deceased; that there were some burn marks on the left side of the chest of the deceased and that Surjit Singh PW-1 and Trilok Singh PW-2, the brothers of the deceased, Judia Singh PW-3, the father of the deceased, Vidya Kaur PW-7, the sister of the deceased and appellants Balbir Singh and Kamla Devi, the husband and mother-in-law of the deceased respectively, were present there.

3. SI Anil Kumar PW-17, recorded the statement Ex.PW-2/A of Trilok Singh and made an endorsement Ex.PW-17/A thereon, and at around 04.35 P.M. handed over the same to Const.Vinod Kumar for registration of an FIR. Const.Vinod Kumar took the endorsement Ex.PW-17/A to the police station and handed over the same to HC Jai Kumar PW-13, who recorded the FIR No.61/2002 Ex.PW-13/A.

4. In his statement Ex.PW-2/A, Trilok Singh stated that the marriage of the deceased was solemnized with appellant Balbir Singh on 05.12.2001. The appellants were harassing the deceased for bringing insufficient dowry. On 28.01.2002 he and his sister Vidya Kaur went to the matrimonial house of the deceased where the deceased told them that she is being harassed for bringing insufficient dowry. He and his sister tried to counsel the appellants upon which the appellants told them that they will keep harassing the deceased till their demands for dowry are met.

5. Thereafter SI Anil Kumar recorded the statements Mark PW-1/A, Ex.PW-3/B and Mark PW-7/A of Surjeet Singh, Judia Singh and Vidya Kaur respectively under Section 161 Cr.P.C. wherein they also stated that the deceased was being harassed by the appellants for bringing insufficient dowry.

6. SI Anil Kumar PW-17, prepared the rough site plan Ex.PW-17/B of the house in question; recording therein at point „A? the room where the deceased was found dead. In the meantime, Gurdeep Singh PW-11, reached the house in question; on being summoned. Gurdeep Singh took the photographs Ex.PW-11/A-1 to Ex.PW-11/A-8 of the body of the deceased and the room where the deceased was found dead; negatives whereof are Ex.PW-11/B-1 to Ex.PW-11/B-8.

7. Since the needle of suspicion was pointing towards the appellants, SI Anil Kumar arrested them. On being interrogated by SI Anil Kumar in the presence of Const.Pappu Singh PW-5, appellant Balbir Singh made a disclosure statement Ex.PW-2/F wherein he stated that he and appellant Kamla Devi had murdered the deceased and that he can get recovered a tie and a press used by him for murdering the deceased. Pursuant thereto, appellant Balbir Singh led the aforesaid police officers to a room in the house in question and got recovered a tie an