GHURTHU RAM Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Appeal is directed against the judgment passed by the Sessions Judge, Jashpur in Sessions Trial No.9/2008 dated 28.7.2008 whereby he has convicted the Appellant of having committed the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC and under Section 5 of Chhattisgarh Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Act, 2005 and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment under Section 302 IPC and to undergo RI for 1 year under Section 5 of Chhattisgarh Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Act, 2005.

(2.) The prosecution story briefly stated is that the accused Ghurthu Ram used to suspect that deceased Luchna Bai was engaging in witchcraft against him. He suspected that she was putting spells on him and therefore, on 10.7.2007 at 6.00 pm, he murdered Luchana Bai by beating her with 'danda'.

(3.) The undisputed facts are that on 10.07.2007, Luchana Bai along with her daughter-in-law namely Sita Bai was returning from the fields. Sita Bai went into the forest to collect fodder and fuel wood. When she returned after 15-20 minutes, she saw her mother-in-law Luchana Bai lying in a deep pit near Sagipitanala. Sita Bai then called her husband Kumar Yadav, PW-8. He saw that his mother was dead. Thereafter, Kumar Yadav, PW-8 went to the police station on the next day i.e. 11.7.2007 and lodged merg intimation, Exhibit P-11. In the merg intimation, he has stated the same facts and has also stated that he does not know how his mother died. Thereafter, the body of Luchana Bai was sent for postmortem which was conducted by Dr. RN Kerketta, PW-7 who opined that the deceased had died due to attempt of throttling and fracture of her ribs and excessive bleeding. Despite the fact that the Doctor had opined that the death was homicidal in nature and the injuries were antemortem in nature, the police still did not record First Information Report. Thereafter, on 23.7.2007, First Information Report, Exhibit P-13 was registered with the police. Then, the statement of the witnesses were recorded and at this stage, two witnesses namely Ramjit Ram, PW-6 and Xavier Kujur, PW-9 suddenly appear.