ORDER :

1. This appeal is preferred against the judgment of conviction dated 10.04.2003 and order of sentence dated 19.04.2003 passed by learned Additional sessions Judge, FTC-II, Dhanbad, in S.T. No. 310 of 1996 whereby and whereunder the appellants were found guilty and have been convicted under sections 306/34 of the Indian Penal code and all of them have been sentenced to undergo R.I. for 7 years and also to pay a fine of Rs. 2000/- each, in default of payment of fine they have been further sentenced to undergo R.I. for 6 months.

It is found from the record that originally there were four appellants including Appellant No. 1 Tara Devi (mother-in-law), Appellant No. 2 Jagat Ram Mandal (father-in-law), Appellant No. 3 sisters-in-law (Nanad) Baby Devi and Appellant No. 4 sister-in-law (Nanad) Soni Mandal. Out of the said four appellants two of them, namely, Appellant No. 1 Tara Devi (mother-in-law) and Appellant No. 2 Jagat Ram Mandal (father-in-law) have died during pendency of this appeal and hence names of Appellant No. 1 Tara Devi (mother-in law) and Appellant No. 2 Jagat Ram Mandal (father-in-law) have been deleted from the Cause Title of the appeal and the rest of the appellants have been renumbered as Appellant No. 1 Baby Devi and Appellant no. 2 Soni Mandal.

Prosecution Story

2. The prosecution case in brief is that one Bimla Pankaj (PW-4) had given her fardbeyan before the Officer-in-Charge Hariharpur Police Station on 13.11.1995 stated that she had two sons and three daughters.

She further stated in her fardbeyan that her husband P.P. Pankaj who was Railway Employee had been traceless since last four years. Her youngest daughter, namely, Sapna Tigga solemnized her love marriage with one Pramod Mandal, who was unemployed and was the son of retired train driver, namely Jagat Ram Mandal (A.2) who was residing at retired colony Jitpur, Gomoh.

In her fardbeyan she has further stated that her youngest daughter, namely Sapna Tigga started leaving in her sasural. She further stated that the father-in-law Jagat Ram Mondal (since deceased), mother-in-law Tara Devi (since deceased) and sister-in-law, namely Soni Mandal (Appellant no. 2) used to always torture and tease the daughter of the informant and the informant used to receive this information from the neighbours and also from Sapna Tigga, the daughter of the informant.

It is further alleged that on the eve of Chhatha Puja the elder Sister-in–Law, namely, Baby Devi (Appellant no. 1) came from her sasural and since then all of them started torturing the daughter of the informant.

It is further alleged that Pramod Mandal Son-in-Law of the informant had gone to Patratu in search of job and as soon as he went out from the house the accused persons started torturing her, as a result of which the daughter of the informant, namely, Sapna Tigga committed suicide by hanging.

3. The aforesaid fardbeyan was forwarded to the officer In Charge of Topchanchi Police Station for instituting the case u/s 306/498 A/34 of IPC. Accordingly, the case was registered as Topchanchi Police Station No. 144 of 1995 dated 13.11.1995.

4. After completion of the investigation the charge sheet was submitted and after framing the charge u/s 306/34 of IPC the case was committed to the court of sessions and after completing the trial passed the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence which are under challenge.

5. Heard Mr. Arjun N. Deo, learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. Tapash Roy, learned A.P.P. for the State.

Arguments on behalf of the appellants

6. Assailing the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence the learned counsel has stated that the learned trial court without there being any evidence of abetment direct or indirect convicted the appellant u/s 306 IPC.

7. In absence of suicide note left by the deceased Sapna Tigga, it has been contended on behalf of the learned defense counsel that there is no iota of evidence with respect to the instigation by the accused appellant to the