On 01.09.1994 in the early hours a dhebri i.e. lamp is said to have
fallen on the mattress on which Sunita was sleeping. She caught fire and
was completely burnt. The fact that she was so burnt at 4.00 am was seen
by neighbour PW4 Bachhi Devi. According to the witness Sunita’s brother
in law came to her place asking for a torch stating that Sunita had
suffered burns. The witness went to the house of Respondent No.1 and found
Sunita in burnt condition. Sunita then stated to the witness “jo hona tha
ho gaya”.
Trial court
It was held that the
possibility could not be ruled out that the death of Sunita had occurred as
a result of a lamp having fallen on the mattress. The trial court further
relied upon the fact that the parents of deceased Sunita were informed and
that the cremation had taken place after their consent. Though PW1 Tara
Devi had stated that her signatures were obtained on a piece of paper
forcibly, the trial court concluded that the death occurred as a result of
falling of a lamp on the mattress and acquitted the respondents of the
charges leveled against them.
High court
The order passed by the High Court is quoted below:
“We have heard learned A.G.A. for the State appellant and perused the
impugned judgment. The deceased Sunita died of burn injuries. Her
cremation was made in presence of her parents. A delayed F.I.R. was lodged
with the allegation that there was demand of dowry and she was done to
death. The trial court appears to have considered all the facts and
circumstances of the case emerging from the record.
In above view of the matter, we do not find any force in the prayer to
grant the leave to appeal.
The leave to appeal is rejected.”
Apex court
To say the least, it
appears improbable that a person as a result of falling of a lamp on the
mattress could be reduced to the status of 100 per cent burns. Even if he
was asleep, the normal reaction of such person and the other inmates of the
house would be to douse the fire. Therefore the matter had to be
considered whether the death occurred in suspicious circumstances or not.
The statement “jo hona tha ho gaya” attributed to Sunita is not indicative
that whatever happened was a pure accident. - 2015 S.C. MSKLAWREPORTS
