JUDGMENT :

Accused No.1 in S.C.No. 153 of 2010 preferred this appeal challenging the judgment of the IX Additional Sessions Judge at Kamareddy, dated 22.11.2011. A.1, along with A.2 to A.7, was charged for the offence under Section 304-B of IPC for allegedly subjecting the deceased-Laxmi @ Devavva to cruelty demanding additional dowry and causing her death within seven years of her marriage with A.1. Through the said judgment, A.1 was convicted for the offence under Section 304-B IPC and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years. However, A.2 to A.7 were found not guilty for the offence under Section 304-B IPC and were acquitted of the said charge.

2. The gist of the prosecution case, leading to the conviction of the appellant-A.1, in brief, is as follows:

P.W.1 is the father and P.W.2 is the younger brother of the deceased. A.1 is the husband, A.2 & A.3 are the parents-in-law; A.4 & A.5 are the brother-in-law & co-sister of the deceased. A.6 & A.7 are the brother-in-law and sister of A.1. Marriage of deceased with A.1 took place eleven months prior to the date of incident. At the time of marriage, P.W.1 presented Rs.30,000/- out of agreed amount of Rs.45,000/- towards dowry apart from gold and other articles to A.1 with a promise to clear the remaining amount of Rs.15,000/- within six months. After the marriage, the deceased joined her husband and her parents-in-law, A.1 to A.3 apart from her brother-in-law, A.4, co-sister, A.5, sister of A.1 and her husband, who are A.7 & A.6 respectively. Fifteen days after the marriage, the accused started harassing her on the demand of balance amount of dowry and not allowed her to visit her parents’ house and therefore, the matter was placed before the village elders, P.Ws.3 & 4, who advised the accused not to harass the deceased. However, the accused continued to harass the deceased and when the marriage of brother’s son of P.W.1 took place, the accused did not allow the deceased to attend the said marriage. On 08.03.2007, at about 23:00 hours, all the deceased pressurized her for bringing the remaining dowry amount and unable to bear the tortures from the accused, the deceased committed suicide by consuming insecticide poison. On 09.03.2007, at 13:30 hours, P.W.1 presented Ex.P.1 complaint with the police, on the basis of which, P.W.10, the then Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police of Nagireddypet Police Station, registered a case in Crime No. 21 of 2007 for the offence under Section 304-B IPC and issued Ex.P. 7, FIR, and forwarded the same to all concerned. He recorded the statements of witnesses, sent requisition to the Tahsildar, P.W.9, who held inquest panchanama under Ex.P.5 in the presence of P.Ws.7 & 8 and recorded their statements and sent the dead body for Post-Mortem Examination. P.W.10 drawn the rough sketch under Ex.P. 6 in the presence of panchas i.e., P.W.8 and L.W.11. P.W.6, the medical officer, conducted autopsy over the dead body of the deceased on 10.03.2007 and sent the viscera for FSL examination. After recording statement of P.W.2, P.W.10 handed over the case to the Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Kamareddy, P.W.11. During the course of investigation, Police arrested the accused, recorded their confessional statements and remanded them to judicial custody. After completion of investigation and on receipt of FSL report under Ex.P.3, P.W.11 filed the charge sheet against all the accused for the offence under Section 304-B IPC before the concerned magistrate. On committal by the magistrate, necessary charges were framed against all the accused. The accused denied the charges and claimed for trial.

3. In order to prove the guilt of the accused, the prosecution examined P.Ws.1 to 11 and marked Exs.P.1 to P.7. On behalf of the defense, none of the witnesses were examined and no documents were marked. The trial Court after analyzing the oral and documentary evidence, convicted and sentenced the appellant-A.1 as indicated above while acquitting A.2 to A.7