REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 135 OF 2010
Budhadev Karmaskar ..Appellant
versus
State of West Bengal ..Respondents
O R D E R
Heard learned counsel for the appellant.
This Appeal has been filed against the impugned
judgment and order dated 25th July, 2007 passed by the High
Court of Calcutta in C.R.A. No. 487 of 2004.
The facts have been set out in the impugned judgment
and hence we are not repeating the same here except wherever
necessary.
This is a case of brutal murder of a sex worker.
Sex workers are also human beings and no one has a right to
assault or murder them. A person becomes a prostitute not
because she enjoys it but because of poverty. Society must
have sympathy towards the sex workers and must not look down
upon them. They are also entitled to a life of dignity in
view of Article 21 of the Constitution.
In the novels and stories of the great Bengali
Writer Sharat Chand Chattopadhyaya, many prostitutes have
been shown to be women of very high character, e.g.,
Rajyalakshmi in 'Shrikant', Chandramukhi in 'Devdas' etc.
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The plight of prostitutes has been depicted by the great
Urdu poet Sahil Ludhianvi in his poem 'Chakle' which has
been sung in the Hindi film Pyasa "Jineh Naaz Hai Hind Per
wo kahan hain" (simplified version of the verse 'Sana Khwan-
e-taqdees-e-Mashrik Kahan Hain').
We may also refer to the character Sonya Marmelodov
in Dostoyevsky's famous novel 'Crime and Punishment'. Sonya
is depicted as a girl who sacrifices her body to earn some
bread for her impoverished family.
Reference may also be made to Amrapali, who was a
contemporary of Lord Buddha.
In the present case, the incident happened on 17th
September, 1999 at about 9.15 p.m. The deceased Chayay Rani
Pal alias Buri was living in a red light area and was a
resident of Room No.8 of Premises No.19, Jogen Dutta Lane in
Calcutta. She was evidently a sex worker. The appellant
Budhadev kicked her with fists and legs, and she fell down
on the floor. The appellant then caught her by her hair and
banged her head against the floor and the wall several times
which left the victim bleeding from her ear, nose and head.
The incident was witnessed by four persons, Pw2-Abida, PW4-
Maya, PW7-Asha and PW8-Parvati.
PW2-Abida has deposed that she saw the appellant-
accused catching the victim by her hair and banging her head
against the wall. The victim was profusely bleeding through
her nose and mouth. On seeing this, Abida started shouting
and then the accused pushed her and went down and fled away.
PW8-Parvati saw the victim being mercilessly beaten by the
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accused-appellant, and the same is the evidence of PW7-Asha.
In the post mortem, as many as 11 injuries on the body of
the victim were found, eight of which were on various parts
of the face and forehead.
The police was informed about the incident over the
telephone as is evident from the testimony of PW2 Abida.
After the police arrived on the spot, sample of the blood
spilled from the body of the victim was collected and
photographs taken. The victim was brought by Asha Khatoon
and others to the hospital where she was found 'dead on
arrival'. Blood was oozing out from her ear and nostril.
There was swelling on the left eyeball and left eyebrow.
Thus, the medical evidence corroborates the ocular
testimony.
PW10-Dr. Amitava Das, the Medical Officer who held
the post mortem examination of the dead body of deceased
Chhaya Rani Pal found the following injuries on her person:
1) Abrasion 1" x = " over the nose just below
the nasal bridge.
2) Abrasion = " x = " over left side forehead =
" above left eyebrow 3" left to midline.
3) Abrasion = " x = " over left side of
forehead just over the left eye brow 2" left
mid line.
4) Bruise 2" x 1" over left upper eye lid.
5) Bruise 2" x 1" over anterior aspect of mid
part of nose.
6) Abrasion = " x < " over right side of
forehead 1" above right eye brow 2" right to
mid line.
7) Abrasion 2" x 1" over right side of face
just below the right eye and just right to
outer canthus of right eye.
8) Lacerated wound = " x < " x scalp over left
partial region 4 = " left to anterior mid
line and 2" below left parietal eminence.
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9) Abrasion 3" x = " over posteriorateral
aspect of right forehead 1" below right
elbow.
10)Abrasion 1" x = " over anterior medial
aspect of lower part of right forearm 1"
above right wrist.
11)Abrasion 4" x 3" over upper part of
posterior aspect of right thigh 7" above
right knee joint.
On dissection, the Doctor found the following
injuries:
1) Heamatoma 3 = " x 2" in the scalp tissue
over right frontal region.
2) Heamatoma 3 = " x 2" in the scalp tissue
over left frontal region.
3) Haematoma 3 = " x = " in the scalp tissue
over left partial region.
4) Fissured fracture 3" long more or loss
longitudinal over left parietal temporal
bone.
5) Haematoma 2" x 1" in the scalp tissue over
right parietal region.
6) Subdural hemorrhage present involving the
right parietal and temporal lobe.
7) Lacerated wound = " (half) x < " x substance
over right parietal lobe of brain substance.
The abrasions were non-scabbed and red in
colour. The bruises were dark red in
colour. The margins of the lacerated wounds
were irregular and red in colour. All the
injuries showed signs of vital reactions. No
other injury except those described could be
detected even on careful dissection and
examination.
PW10 Dr. Amitava Das, Medical Officer of Mauza
Burdwan Medical College, opined that the death was due to
the effect of the injuries as noted anti-mortem in nature;
that all the injuries as noted in the post mortem
examination report might be caused if a person pushed
against the wall and it may be homicidal in nature."
The injuries above-mentioned show the brutality of
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the crime. The head of the deceased was battered again and
again in a hideous and barbaric manner.
The trial Court has rightly convicted the appellant
under Section 302 IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment
and the High Court has not committed any error in upholding
the conviction and sentence imposed by the trial Court.
We find no reason to disbelieve the testimony of the
eye witnesses in this case, namely, PW2, PW7 and PW8 which
corroborates the medical evidence. The appellant-accused has
committed murder in a brutal manner of a helpless women and
deserves no sympathy from this Court.
For the reasons given above, this appeal is
dismissed.
Although we have dismissed this Appeal, we strongly
feel that the Central and the State Governments through
Social Welfare Boards should prepare schemes for
rehabilitation all over the country for physically and
sexually abused women commonly known as prostitutes as we
are of the view that the prostitutes also have a right to
live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of
India since they are also human beings and their problems
also need to be addressed.
As already observed by us, a woman is compelled to
indulge in prostitution not for pleasure but because of
abject poverty. If such a woman is granted opportunity to
avail some technical or vocational training, she would be
able to earn her livelihood by such vocational training and
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skill instead of by selling her body.
Hence, we direct the Central and the State
Governments to prepare schemes for giving
technical/vocational training to sex workers and sexually
abused women in all cities in India. The schemes should
mention in detail who will give the technical/vocational
training and in what manner they can be rehabilitated and
settled by offering them employment. For instance, if a
technical training is for some craft like sewing garments,
etc. then some arrangements should also be made for
providing a market for such garments, otherwise they will
remain unsold and unused, and consequently the women will
not be able to feed herself.
We propose to have the response of the Centre and
the States in this regard and hence the case shall be
listed before us again on 04.05.2011 to be taken up as
first case on which date the first compliance report
indicating therein the first steps taken by the Central and
the State Governments in this regard shall be submitted.
Issue notice to the Central Government and all the
State Governments which will also file responses by the
date fixed for hearing.
...........................J.
[MARKANDEY KATJU]
NEW DELHI; ...........................J.
FEBRUARY 14, 2011 [GYAN SUDHA MISRA]
