The burden lies on the prosecution to establish cruelty and prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. Suspicion alone cannot replace the test of proving the case beyond reasonable doubts.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer: APPEAL under Section 374 of the Criminal Procedure Code against the conviction and sentence imposed in the judgment dated 25.11.2015 made in S.C.No.4 of 2014 on the file of the Sessions Judge, Magalir Neethimandram (FTMC), Ooty.)

1. This criminal appeal has been filed against the judgment rendered by the Sessions Judge, Mahalir Neethimandram (FTMC), Ooty in S.C.No.4 of 2014, dated 25.11.2015, convicting the appellant for the offence under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter called the Code) and sentencing him to undergo five years rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- and in default, to undergo six months simple imprisonment.

2. The case of the prosecution is as hereunder:

(i) The deceased one Mrs.Rubini is the daughter of P.W.1. P.W.2 and P.W.3 are her brothers. P.W.4 is the sister of the deceased. The appellant completed his 12th Standard and he was working in the business establishment of one Ashraf of Kothagiri. The appellant hails from Kerala and the deceased Rubini hails from Baduga community. The appellant and the deceased Rubini fell in love with each other and at that point of time, the deceased was studying B.E.course at Vellalar Engineering College at Erode. They waited till the deceased completed her course and became a major and on 13.12.2007, the appellant married the deceased Rubini at a temple. Thereafter, they started living in the house of the appellant at Kothagiri.

(ii) The appellant started demanding dowry from the deceased Rubini and she was subjected to cruelty in this regard. Ultimately, the deceased Rubini, not able to take it any more, decided to end her life and accordingly, on 17.3.2008 at about 11 AM, she committed suicide by hanging in the house of the appellant.

(iii) PW1, who is the father of the deceased, was informed about the death of his daughter and he visited the deceased in the hospital at Kothagiri. Since P.W.1 entertained a doubt as to the nature of death of his daughter, he gave a complaint (Ex.P.1) to P.W.12, who was the then Sub-Inspector of Police at Kothagiri Police Station. Based on the same, a first information report (Ex.P.7) came to be registered on 17.3.2008 at about 2.30 PM in Cr.No.94 of 2008 for the offence under Section 304-B of the Code.

(iv) The investigation was taken up by one Ravindran. He received the first information report at about 3.45 PM on 17.3.2008 and went to the scene of crime at about 4 PM. He prepared the observation mahazar (Ex.P.2) and the rough sketch (Ex.P.17) in the presence of witnesses. The Investigation Officer also recovered M.O.9 to M.O.11 in the presence of the very same witnesses under recovery mahazar marked as Ex.P.3.

(v) Since the death had taken place within seven years from the marriage, a requisition was sent to the Revenue Divisional Officer (P.W.15) to conduct an inquiry. The Revenue Divisional Officer proceeded to the Government Hospital and he conducted an inquest over the body in the presence of panchayatdhars and the inquest report has been marked as Ex.P.14. Further, the post mortem was conducted by P.W.13. Since the parents and the relatives of the deceased insisted for a re-post mortem, the same was done by P.W.14 by forming a team. The original post mortem report has been marked as Ex.P.10 and the re-post mortem report has been marked as Ex.P.12.

(vi) For proper appreciation, the injuries recorded in Ex.P.12 are extracted as hereunder:

“External injuries : (1) Ligature mark extending from level of left mastoid across anterior midline of neck ending 4 (four) cm below right mastoid bone length about 20 cm breadth about 2 cm. (2) Abrasion 0.5 X 0.5 cm outer aspect of left upper eyelid. (3) 50 cm sutured incision in anterior midline extending from sub mental region to 3 cm above pubis. (4) 33 cm sutured incision in anterior hairline extending from left to right earlobe.

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