(1.) The solitary Appellant was indicted of committing offences under Sections 304B, 498A and 494 Indian Penal Code by the learned Presiding Officer, Fast Track Court I, Nawada after being put on trial in Sessions Trial No. 51 of 2004/ 23 of 2005. By judgment dated 31.7.2007, the Appellant was held guilty of committing the above offences and by order of sentence passed on 2.8.2007, the Appellant was directed to suffer RI for ten years under Section 304B Indian Penal Code. The learned trial judge did not pass any substantive sentence under Section 498A Indian Penal Code and acquitted the Appellant of the charge under Section 494 Indian Penal Code.
(2.) It appears that the dead body of Widu Kumari, daughter of P.W. 11 Karyanand Singh, was found on the railway track in between Tilaiya and Nawada railway stations. The matter came into the knowledge of the rail police and, accordingly, an U D Case was registered vides Nawada GRPS UD Case No. 9 of 2002 and the inquest was held on the dead body. The dead body was sent for holding postmortem examination and it appears held by Dr. Akhilesh Kumar Prasad, who was examined during the trial as P.W. 10. He was of the opinion that the injuries which were appearing on the dead body definitely indicated that the deceased had been run over by a train and, as such, it was a death caused by accident. The UD case was winded up as may appear from the report (Ext.C).
(3.) All on a sudden, P.W. 11 Karyanand Singh was filing a complaint petition (Ext. 1) before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nawada alleging therein that the Appellant and his family members were not taking the bride (deceased), married to the present Appellant in the month of Baishakh, 1998, to their house as they were demanding rupees one lac and a motorcycle as additional dowry in consideration of the marriage. In the meantime, the wife of the brother of the Appellant, named Arvind Singh, fell ill and the doctor advised for the surgery to the lady and, as such, the deceased Widu Kumari was taken by the Appellant to his house in Falgun, 2001, where she was residing peacefully. However, after some days, the Appellant and other accused persons started demanding rupees one lac and a motorcycle and also started ill treating and torturing Widu Kumari so much so that even meals were not provided to her and she was beaten up and closed in a room. On account of not getting demanded dowry from the complainant, it is alleged, the marriage of the present Appellant was performed with another lady named Sanju Devi after realizing huge dowry from her father and when the complainant came to know about the marriage of the Appellant, he along with some villagers went to the house of the Appellant and wanted to know the reason for such inappropriate action by the family members of the Appellant, who stated that it was a matter to be forgotten as the same had already occurred and assured that the deceased would not be ill treated or neglected.