- (1.) A-1 to A-5 in Sessions Case No.74 of 1996, on the file of the Additional Sessions Judge at Nizamabad, who were convicted of the offence punishable under Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code (for brevity 'IPC') and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years each, are the appellants in this appeal.
(2.) Originally, before the Court below, A-1 to A-6 were put on trial of the offence punishable under Section 304-B IPC. A-6 died during the pendency of the Sessions Case and A-2 i.e., father of A-l died during the pendency of this appeal. Now, the appeal of A-l and A-3 to A-5 survives for consideration.
(3.) The charge framed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge against the accused is as follows : "That A-l of you being husband of the deceased Smt Bhaktamala, A-2 to A-6 of you being in-laws, brother-in-law, co-sister and father-in-law of A-4 of you, on 17-8-1994 at about 9 a.m., and prior there at Namdevwada locality in Nizamabad Town subjected the deceased Bhaktamala, whom A-1 of you married about three and half years ago, to cruelty for additional dowry, within seven years of your marriage, and due to your said harassment and beating, the deceased Bhaktamala committed suicide by drowning herself in Godavari River at Basar.";