KIRAN ANAND LALL, J. - (1.) THIS appeal is directed against the judgment dated 13.8.1993 vide which the trial Court convicted the appellants under Section 306 IPC and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- each, or, in default to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for six months.
(2.) BINDER Singh and Pritam Kaur appellants are the brother-in-law (husband's brother) and mother-in-law of the deceased, Kulwant Kaur @ Rani. Lal Singh, the father-in-law, who was also tried and convicted sentenced with them, died during the pendency of appeal. His name was, therefore, deleted from the array of parties. The nut-shell, the prosecution case is that Kulwant Kaur was married to Gurdev Singh, about two years prior to her death. Her husband was in Army. Therefore, since the time of marriage, she had been residing at her in-laws' house. A period of two years expired but no child was born to her. Lal Singh, Pritam Kaur, and Binder Singh, therefore, started taunting and harassing her, in this regard. And, she had been complaining about all this to her parents. Even on the preceding day of occurrence viz. 6.6.1989, she visited her parents at Jagraon and informed them about increase in the harassment being meted out to her by her mother-in-law, father-in-law, and brother-in-law, for having not produced a child. She also told them that they had made her living very difficult. She was, however, sent back by her parents, after being told that her husband would take her along after allotment of quarter to him and therefore she need not worry. However, on the next day viz. 7.6.1989, Joginder Singh PW informed her father Chhota Singh (complainant) at 12.00 noon, in Village Kothe Sherpur, where he had gone for doing masonry work, that his daughter (Kulwant Kaur) had consumed poison and was lying dead in the Civil Hospital at Jagraon. Her father, accordingly, reached the hospital. On receipt of information from the doctor, police also came there and recorded his statement, Ex. PA/II, which forms the basis of this case. Dr. Rajiv Bhalla, Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Kharar, conducted post-mortem of the dead-body of Kulwant Kaur on the application of police, Ex. PB. Liver, spleen and kidneys were sent for Chemical Examination. As per report of the Chemical Examiner, Ex. PE, aluminium phosphide was detected in the contents of live, spleen and kidneys. The cause of death, in the opinion of Dr. Rajiv Bhalla, was due to aluminium phosphide-poisoning.
(3.) THE appellants were arrested and after completion of investigation, challan was put in against them, in Court.;