SUMANTA DHUPI Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The facts of this case as set forth in the judgment of the learned Sessions Judge are as follows: On the 3rd February one Girish Kahar disappeared and was never seen again alive. On the 12th February a dead body was found in a pond which appears to be an overflow from a tidal river. The body was lying under three feet of mud and on it was a heavy ladder. It was so far decomposed that the Medical Officer who held the post mortem examination was unable to give any cause of death: but from its clothing it was identified as the body of Girish by his relations. As soon as the body was discovered, a first information was lodged before the Police in which it was stated that the undoubted cause of the killing of Girish Kahar was that his cousin was an idiot and that his wife Nandarani was an immoral woman, her chief visitors being Sumanta Dhupi and Bhagwan Dhupi, two of the accused now before us, and that Girish was an obstacle to these intrigues. After investigation two other Dhupies, Bharat Dhupi and Pyari Dhupi, were arrested by the Police and were brought before the Deputy Magistrate for the recording of statements which for the purpose of the present case it is not necessary to consider. It is sufficient to say that they are not admissible in evidence against the two accused Sumanta and Bhagwan. Evidence was placed before the Committing Magistrate to the effect that from the condition of the rice in the stomach of the deceased he must have died three or four hours after his last meal, which was taken at 6 p.m. A number of witnesses gave evidence that they saw Sumanta and Bhagwan, Pyari and Bharat between 6 and 8 p.m. loitering near the house of Girish and two boatmen saw Sumanta the same night at 11 P.M. with two other men at a spot a short distance from the place where the body was found. The men that they saw were muddied to the waist. Other witnesses saw Sumanta and Bhagwan about midnight returning to their homes with mud upon their legs. Upon this evidence the four accused Sumanta, Bhagwan, Bharat and Pyari were committed to the Sessions Court under Sections 302 and 201, Indian Penal Code.

(2.) On the case coming on for trial it was at once evident that it would be illegal to try both these offences together. Accordingly the charge under Section 201, Indian Penal Code, was first investigated, the charge under Section 302 being postponed for future consideration.

(3.) The facts as found by the Sessions Judge amount to this, that the Medical Officer is wrong in his deductions from the digestion of the food in the stomach of the deceased as to the exact hour of his death. That hour would more rightly be fixed at between 7 and 8 p.m. The Sessions Judge finds on the evidence that it is conclusively proved that Bhagwan and Sumanta disposed of the body of Girish by sinking it in the pond. He finds that it is conclusively proved that Girish was murdered between 7 and 8 P. m. on the night of the 3rd February. He is satisfied that Sumanta and Bhagwan had a sufficient motive for killing him. He finds that they were loitering near the house of Girish at the exact hour of the murder On these facts he has convicted them under Section 201.