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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

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CASE NO.:

Appeal (crl.) 1221 of 2007

PETITIONER:

Phulia Tudu and Anr

RESPONDENT:

The State of Bihar (now Jharkhand)

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 14/09/2007

BENCH:

Dr. ARIJIT PASAYAT & D.K. JAIN

JUDGMENT:

J U D G M E N T

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1221 OF 2007

(Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No.5396 of 2006)

Dr. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. Challenge in this appeal is to the order passed by a

Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court upholding

conviction of the appellants for offence punishable under

Section 302 IPC read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code,

1860 (in short the ’IPC’).

3. Background facts according to the prosecution in a

nutshell are as follows:

Bitia Soren (PW-8) is the sister-in-law of Biti Murmu

(hereinafter referred to as ’the deceased’). The first appellant’s

son fell ill and the appellants/accused were under the

impression that since the deceased, Biti Murmu, is a witch,

she has caused a spell on the son of the accused and,

therefore, they were nurturing a grievance against the

deceased. On the date of incident, when the villagers had gone

to the cremation ground to cremate the dead