2025:CGHC:42335-DB MANPREET KAUR AFR Digitally signed by MANPREET KAUR Date: 2025.08.22 19:17:04 +0530 HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRA No. 242 of 2023 Ramdas Lakda S/o Sarodhan Aged About 32 Years R/o Village Belbahara, Mauharipara, Chowki Koda, Police Station Jhagrakhand, District Korea Chhattisgarh ... Appellant(s)

versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through The P S Jhagrakhand, District Korea Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s)

For Appellant(s) : Mr. Vivek Sharma, Advocate For Respondent(s) : Mr. Nitansh Jaiswal, Panel Lawyer Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice and Hon'ble Shri Bibhu Datta Guru, Judge Judgment on board Per Ramesh Sinha, C.J .

21.08.2025

1. This criminal appeal filed by the appellant-accused under Section

374(2) of Cr.P.C. is directed against the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 30.11.2022, passed by the learned Second Additional Sessions Judge, Manendragarh, District- Korea (C.G.) in Sessions Trial No. 61/2017, whereby the appellant-accused has been convicted for offence under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and fine of Rs.500/-, in default of payment of fine, to further undergo additional rigorous imprisonment for 7 days.

2. Case of the prosecution, in brief, is that Sumitra was married as per social customs with Ramdas of Village Belbahra, Mauharipara, they have two children from their married life, a boy Deepak aged about 7 years, a girl aged about 4 years. One of Sumitra's sisters was also married to Mangal Say of Mauharipara in village Belbahara. Both their houses are nearby. Ramdas did not do any work and used to drink alcohol. When Sumitra stopped him from doing this, he used to fight and beat her almost everyday. On 20/03/2017 at about 9 PM, on hearing loud cries and screams from Sumitra's house, Mangal Say went running to her house and saw Ramdas standing in the courtyard of his house in front of the kitchen with a tangi in his hand. Ramdas's father Sarodhan and grandfather Supet were also standing there. When Mangal Say asked Sarodhan and Supet, they told him that Ramdas had killed his wife Sumitra by hitting her with a tangi in the kitchen. Sumitra's dead body was lying in the kitchen. Mangal Say went inside the kitchen and saw that Sumitra was lying dead on the floor near the kitchen stove. There was a long deep cut mark on her neck. A lot of blood had come out of her neck and had flowed on her face and floor. Seeing this, Mangal Say got very scared and ran to his house and told everything to his wife and also told everything to Bhanwar Singh, brother of the village Sarpanch and went with him to register a report of the incident at the police post at 1.50 pm that night. Based on his report, Rural Murder Intimation No. 0/2017 under Section 174 Cr.P.C. was registered and Rural Complaint No. 0/2017 under Section 302 IPC was filed against Ramdas and the matter was taken into investigation/investigation.

3. On the basis of rural intimation registered in outpost Koda on Rural Intimation No. 0/2017, in police station Jhagrakhand, Merg Intimation No. 8/2017 was registered and on the basis of rural complaint registered in outpost Koda, Crime No. 49/2017 was registered in police station Jhagrakhand. After information, on the night of the incident, the in-charge of the police post Koda, Assistant Sub-Inspector Dharmendra Banerjee, along with constable No. 49, reached the spot. Due to darkness and night, it was not possible to inspect the spot and the dead body. To keep the spot and the dead body safe, the police locked and sealed it in the presence of witnesses and remained deployed at the spot for security. The next day on 21/03/2017 at 10.50 a.m., the lock of the spot was removed and the seal was removed. The panchanama proceedings were conducted by giving notice to the witnesses to be present in the panchanama proceedings of Sumitra's body. On the basis of the memorandum statement of Ramdas, property was seized from him. During in