NAGINA MANJHI Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The sole appellant Nagina Manjhi stands convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code with the sentence of rigorous imprisonment for life and also under Section 376 with the sentence of rigorous imprisonment for seven years; the two sentences are directed to run concurrently by the trial Court.

(2.) It may be noted at the out-set that the victims of the two offences alleged to have been committed by the appellant were not the same but two different persons. The appellant first killed the mother by cutting her throat by phasuli and then he ravished the daughter through the night. While dealing with the issue of sentence, the trial Court made the observation that it was not the rarest of the rare case. That is not incorrect; nevertheless, the case presents elements of cold-blooded planning and brutuality that are quite out of the ordinary.

(3.) The prosecution case was instituted on the basis of the statement of Manju Devi (the victim of rape) which was recorded as fardbeyan (Ext. 6). The informant, Manju Devi gave her statement on 1.6.1996 at 13 hours at the road by the side of village Kubri under Chabilapur PS. Her statement was recorded by SI," Prabhakar Singh, Officer-in-Charge of the Police Station. A formal FIR (Ext. 7) was later drawn up, giving rise to Silao (Chabilapur) PS Case No. 187 of 1996.