- (1.) THIS appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction dated 21.4.2005 and order of sentence dated 25/4/2005 passed by the 1st Addl Sessions Judge, FTC Lohardaga, in Sessions Trial No. 121 of 2002 whereby and whereunder the appellant having been found guilty for committing murder of his mother was convicted for the offence punishable under sections 302 IPC and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life .
(2.) THE case of the prosecution is that on 19.7.2002 at about 5.30 p.m. when Lalita Devi, wife of the informant Dhananjoy Sah (P.W. 3) had gone to "gohal" (a place for keeping cattle and fodders) for taking firewoods, the informant heard the shouting of his wife coming from the "gohal". On hearing alarm, when the informant went there, he saw the appellant ( his son ) inflicting chhura blows upon his wife. He tried to catch hold of him, but the appellant fled from there. Meanwhile, the villagers also reached there who saw injuries on the person of the wife of the informant who died there.
(3.) ON the next day ( 20.7.2002) at 5.00 a.m, a written report was submitted upon which a formal FIR (Ext. 3) was drawn by Jai Krishna (PW6), the then officer in charge of Bhandara Police Station. He himself took up investigation of the matter and came to the place of occurrence where he held inquest on the dead body of the deceased and prepared an inquest report (Ext 2/2). He inspected the place of occurrence and then sent the dead body for post mortem examination, which was conducted by Dr. Shanbhu Nath Choudhary (PW7) who found the following injuries on the persons of the deceased. (a) incised wound at the upper lip on the left side, measuring 2" in length passing through and through the whole thickness of upper lip and sharply splitting it with clotted blood at the margin; (b) incised wound on the lower lip in opposition to injury on upper lip 1" in length and splitting lower lip in similar fashion with clotted blood; (c) four parallel incised wounds at the super external notch; each injury spread about 1 cm apart and 3"x1/2" vertebra deep with clotted blood in the depth of the wound. On dissection the internal tissues, muscles, trachea, oesophagus were found incised at multiple sites with one such wound approaching to the apices of both lungs; (d) On examination of thorax, the second left rib was found fractured and there was underlying haemothorax with clotted blood measuring 1 litre. Both lungs were found collapsed; (e) On examination of abdomen, all the hallow viscera namely stomach, small and large intestines were found normal . The doctor issued post mortem examination report ( Ext. 4 ) with an opinion that the death of the deceased was caused due to excessive bleed loss and shock caused by injury no.(c) which was caused by some sharp cutting instrument driven with sufficient force to cause injury to major blood vessels of neck and thorax and trauma to airway. After completion of the investigation, charge sheet was submitted upon which cognizance of the offence was taken against the appellant and when the case was committed to the court of sessions, the appellant was put on trial during which the prosecution examined as many as 13 witnesses. Of them PW1 a villager; PW3 Dhananjoy Sah ( informant); PW8 Manju Kumari ( sister ); PW9 Reena Devi (wife) and PW10 Rambali Sah cousin of the appellant are the eye witnesses to the occurrence, who have testified that on hearing alarm when they went to the "gohal", they found the appellant inflicting injuries upon her mother with a chhura. PWs 4, 5, 12 and 13 are hearsay witnesses, whereas PW2 and 11, brothers of the appellant, had seen the appellant fleeing from the "gohal" taking a chhura smeared in blood, in his hand .;