- (1.) Both the death reference and the criminal appeal, since are the outcome of a self-same trial, those were taken up for hearing together and are disposed of by this judgment. In a sessions trial held before the Learned Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, Ghatal, the accused, Rakesh Singh was charged for having committed an offence punishable under Sections 302/201, IPC by intentionally causing death of his two minor daughters and for disappearance of evidence of murder and under Section 326, IPC for causing grievous hurt to his wife. Finally, in the trial, the accused was convicted for all the offences he was charged with but was sentenced to death only for his conviction under Section 302, IPC and without imposing any separate sentence for his conviction under Section 326/201, IPC.
(2.) The circumstance that the appellant/convict on the fateful night took away both of his daughters with him from their residence in presence of his wife Sudha Singh, PW/11 and thereafter none of these two minor girls were found alive and killed and no explanation was forthcoming from the side of the appellant/convict as to what happened to them and how they were killed, although such facts were especially within his knowledge, is the very foundation of the prosecution case against him.
(3.) In the trial the prosecution to prove its case against the appellant/convict examined as many as 14 witnesses. The PW/1, Kamalesh Singh was the scribe of the FIR and happens to be the elder brother of the convict. The PW/2, Naren Bera, PW/3, Satinath Chakraborty, PW/5, Biswanath Das were declared hostile. PW/4, Bablu Bera, PW/6, Bhabani Das disown their knowledge anything about the incident. PW/8, Dr. Samar Sinha Das is the doctor, who held post- mortem on the dead body of the two deceased. PW/9 Dr. Biswanath Banerjee examined Sudha Singh, the wife of the convict. PW/10, Anil Kumar Kushwaha is a Judicial Officer, who recorded the statement of PW/11, Sudha Singh under Section 164, CrPC. The PW/11, Sudha Singh is the wife of the convict and mother of the two victims. PW/13, Dr. Kamal Chatterjee is also a doctor, under whose care PW/11, Sudha Singh was admitted at Ghatal Sub-Divisional Hospital. The PW/14 is the Investigating Officer of the case.;