VIJAY SINGH BODRA Vs. THE STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant was put on trial on the accusation of committing murder of his wife Basmati Bodra. The Trial Court having found the appellant guilty for the charge convicted him for the offence punishable u/s. 302 of the Indian Penal Code vide its judgment dated 29.05.2004 and accordingly sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 2000/ - with default clause vide its order dated 31.05.2004 passed in Sessions Trial Case No. 46 of 2003.

(2.) THE case of the prosecution as has been projected in the fardbeyan (Ext. 3) is that on 20.11.2002 when the informant, Badule Bodra, P.W. 4, came home in the evening he found his mother Basmati Bodra (deceased) locked in the room. Informant's brother Vijay Bodra, P.W. 5, told him that his mother had gone to the farm of Chokra Bodra for cleaning it. When she returned home at about 6 p.m. she was assaulted by the appellant, the step father of the informant -P.W. 4 and P.W. 5. The appellant after assaulting his wife took her to a room which the appellant got it bolted from inside. Both the informant -Badule Bodra, P.W. 4 and his brother Vijay Bodra, P.W. 5 slept in the night outside of the room in a verandah. In the midnight, the informant -P.W. 4 and his brother P.W. 5 woke up when they heard their mother asking for water. When the appellant refused to give water, the deceased Basmati Bodra asked Vijay Bodra -P.W. 5, her son, to give water. But he could not give water as the door of the room was closed. In the early morning of the next day i.e. on 21.11.2002, when the appellant came out of the room he told both of them P.Ws. 4 and 5 that their mother has died. On the same day at about 9 am when maternal uncle and aunt of their mother came over there, they told about the occurrence to them who after getting knowledge of the said fact became quite angry as they had not told them about it earlier. On that night, the informant -Badule Bodra, P.W. 4 and his brother Vijay Bodra, P.W. 5, slept in the house of Juli Hansda. In the next morning, when village Munda came there they told about the occurrence to him, who informed to the police station.

(3.) ON the basis of said fardbeyan a case was registered and a formal FIR was drawn. The said Shiv Shankar Rajak -P.W. 6, took over the investigation of the case during which he held inquest on the dead body of the deceased and prepared an inquest report (Ext. 4). Thereupon, the dead body was sent for postmortem examination which was conducted by Dr. Surendra Lov, P.W. 8, who upon holding autopsy on the dead body did find following injuries: -