The possession of stolen goods and blood-stained clothes can be strong circumstantial evidence in establishing guilt for more aggravated crimes such as murder.

1. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Sarwate J.--Ramprasad Rajput of village Chhidgaon in Harda tahsil has been convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshangabad, under section 302, Indian Penal Code, of the murder of a woman Mst. Rewa and has been sentenced to death. There was also a charge of robbery against him under section 392, Indian Penal Code, in respect of Mst. Rewa's ornaments for which offence also he has been convicted and sentenced to four years' rigorous imprisonment. He has appealed from his convictions and there is also a reference before us for confirmation of the sentence of death.

2. Mst. Rewa was the wife of one Laxman who is an adopted son of Mst. Punia (P. W. 5) of village Chhidgaon. They all lived in the house of Mst. Punia. The accused Ramprasad was in the service of the family as an agricultural servant some years ago and during that time criminal intimacy developed between the accused and Mst. Rewa. According to the evidence of Mst. Punia, Mst. Rewa due to this intimacy favored the accused and used to give him grain and money from the house stealthily. When these things came to notice, the accused was dismissed from service. He, however, continued the intrigue and occasionally visited the house to meet Mst. Rewa and she continued the practice of giving doles to the accused.

3. On 4-9-1947 Mst. Rewa left the house at about 10 a.m. to go to the family field for weeding. When she did not return by the evening, inquiries were started. She sometimes used to go away to her mother's house at Harda and it was thought that she may have gone away to Harda. Laxman was not in the village he having gone to Harda two days previously. That day in the morning before Mst. Rewa left for the field, the accused had called at the house and had sat with her and talked with her. Mst. Punia therefore thought that the accused might have some information of Mst. Rewa's design if she had decided to go away to Harda. She accordingly went in the night to the accused to inquire from him if he knew anything about Rewa's whereabouts. The accused replied that he did not know and when Mst. Punia proposed that he should go with her servant to Harda in search of Mst. Rewa, the accused declined to accompany the servant also on the pretext that his lantern was out of order. Mst. Punia sent her servant Hari to Harda. Mst. Rewa was not of course found at Harda, and the servant returned with Laxman from Harda on 6-9-1947.

4. But before the servant returned, Mangilal (P.W.1) had noticed the dead body of Mst. Rewa lying in a pool of water in the bed of Chhota nala as he happened to go to the nala after his cattle. Since he was aware that Mst. Rewa was missing since two days previously, he gave the information in the village. Hasan Ali (P.W.4), the mukaddam-gumasta then went to the nala with the kotwars, Mst. Punia and other men of the village and the dead body was at once identified as of Mst. Rewa. Mst. Punia had known the ornaments which Mst. Rewa used to have on her person and which were on her when she left the house on 4-9-1947 to go to the field. Those ornaments were missing from the corpse. It was also seen that the feet of Mst. Rewa had been severed from the legs above the ankles and this was thought to have been done to facilitate removal of the silver kadas which had been on her legs. Mst. Punia described the other ornaments which Rewa had on her person at the time of her going from the house. They were two silver akadyas or bankad belyas and a silver tagli which she wore round her neck and silver churas 8 in number which she wore on her arms. All these were missing. She had earrings also in the lobes of her ears but one ear-ring on the left ear was still on the corpse and only that on the right ear was missing.

5. Brijlal kotwar (P. W. 13) was sent by the mukaddam Hasanali to the police station with a written report and at the police station first information report exhibit P-4 was taken from Brijlal on 6-9-1947 a