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4. PW 11 RD Chetwal who is the father of deceased Vimla, has deposed that the marriage had been arranged through the mediation of a distant relation Piarey Lal who had informed that the accused no doubt came from a poor family but he was well qualified. He had given 9-10 tolas of gold ornaments, black and white T.V., refrigerator, double bed, steel almirah and other articles of domestic use as presents in marriage. Subsequently he had given a scooter to the accused when he was posted at Pinhat. Vimla had told him that the accused used to often complain that the articles given in the marriage were not of his standard. He used to frequently taunt her in this regard. Thereafter he had given Rs. 25,000/- in cash to the accused for the purpose of purchasing a flat in Agra and for this purpose he had withdrawn money from his provident fund. He further deposed that he had taken a certificate regarding withdrawal of money (which he produced in court) in order to show to the accused that he would not be in a position to pay any more amount and he should not cause any further harassment to his daughter relating to demand of money. His wife, who was an income tax payee, had given cash money to Vimla on different occasions which she had deposited in a bank. PW11 further deposed that the mother of the accused Dr. Dalbir Singh and a person known as Laktakia used to frequently assault Vimla and the assaults had increased after the birth of the second daughter. PW 12 Maya Devi who is the mother of Vimla has also deposed that according to their status ornaments, clothes and other items had been given at the time of marriage. Vimla had come to her parental home 2-3 months after the marriage and at that time she had become very lean and thin and was not keeping well. On inquiries she had informed that the accused Dalbir used to frequently taunt her that the articles given at the time of the marriage were not of his standard. She has corroborated the version of PW 11 that an amount of Rs.25,000/- was sent to the accused through PW 9 Inder Pal Singh for the purpose of buying the flat. She used to give Rs.2,000 to Rs.5,000 in cash every time Vimla came to her parental home. Vimla had come to her parental home about two and a half months prior to the incident and had told her that the accused Dalbir would kill her. The wife of PW 9 Inder Pal Singh is the sister of PW 12 Smt. Maya Devi and he is thus related to PW 11. He has deposed that the accused was not happy or satisfied with the dowry given at the time of marriage and used to frequently harass Vimla in that regard. The father of Vimla had given money to the accused for the purpose of buying the flat but even thereafter he used to make demand of various items like scooter etc. The accused had obtained a Power of Attorney of the flat from Vimla in his favour and used to frequently assault her. Vimla had also complained to him about one month before the occurrence that she apprehended threat to her life from Dalbir.

5. The handwriting and the signature of Vimla on the letter recovered from the diary has been proved by PW 10 Rajender who is the husband of her younger sister. He has deposed that Vimla used to write letters to his wife Suman and thus he was familiar with her handwriting. The letter has been quoted in extenso in the judgment of the High Court. This letter was written in Hindi by Vimla to her husband whom she has addressed as 'Dear Dalbir' and expresses the feelings of a wife who is being constantly harassed by a greedy husband on account of alleged inadequacy of dowry and it is a pathetic reading. It is difficult to convey the same feelings by translating it into English. In nutshell what she has written is that he (Dalbir) had constantly harassed her by taunting her almost everyday on the issue of dowry. He had been complaining that the double bed was of very cheap quality; that the steel almirah was of very light quality; that her father had given a black and white T.V. and not a colour T.V; that the sofaset was of very inferior type and that the suits given to him were of very cheap quality. He had also been complaining that no scooter had been given at the time of marriage and that the ornaments were very cheap and light. She had been bearing all this for several years in the hope and expectation that he would improve himself but he had taken undue advantage of her patience. She had been tolerating the frequent assaults made by him but she cannot bear the beating caused to Neha (daughter) who was still very young and it was the time for her to play. Therefore she was taking away Neha and Shruti as well along with her. In the second paragraph she has written that now he can marry again wherein he can amass lot of dowry and have several sons which would make his mother happy. She did not want to say anything against Pappu (Laktakia) but God will certainly see him for the assaults made by him upon her. Thereafter she has said that he did not allow her to wear the ornaments given by her father as he thought that their value will be reduced if she wore them. If he had even small amount of human values left in him, the said ornaments be given to Santo Devi widowed daughter of her Shanti Bua and if she was not prepared to accept the same it may be donated to any Anathashram. In the last paragraph she has written that she would pray to God that he may always remain happy and he should not behave with anybody else in the same manner in which he had behaved with her.

6. In his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and also in the written statement filed by him (in accordance with Section 233(2) Cr.P.C.) the accused admitted that the aforesaid letter was written by Vimla and it is in her hand-writing. The contents of the letter are clearly admissible under Section 32 of the Evidence Act as the statement therein has been made by the deceased Vimla as to the cause of her death or as to any of the circumstances or transaction which resulted in her death. The reading of the letter shows that the same has been written by a person who is completely fed up with the demands of dowry and the taunting behaviour of the husband. It appears that the demands, harassment and the cruel treatment meted out to her, further aggravated after the birth of second daughter. The testimony of PW 9 Inder Pal Singh, PW 11 RC Chetwal and PW 12 Smt. Maya Devi shows that the accused had been constantly harassing Vimla as he was not satisfied with the dowry given at the time of marriage and used to make frequent complaints regarding the same. Their testimony further shows that on account of constant demands, father of Vimla later on gave Rs.25,000/- in cash to the accused for the purpose of buying a flat and thereafter gave a colour T.V. and a scooter. Thus from the evidence on record it is fully established that Vimla had been virtually compelled to take the extreme step of committing suicide as accused had subjected her to cruelty by constant taunts and mal treatment relating to demand of dowry.

18. The facts and circumstances of the present case may now be examined in the light of the principle discussed above. The trial Court and also the High Court have recorded a clear finding and with which we are in complete agreement, that the accused had started making a demand of dowry soon after marriage. Even after his father-in-law had given him a colour T.V., a scooter and money for purchasing the flat, he did not feel satisfied and continued to harass his wife. He used to frequently taunt her that some of the items given by way of gift at the time of marriage were of poor quality and were not of his standard. He had also assaulted his wife and even his seven year old daughter on several occasions. It was in such circumstances that Vimla took the extreme step of not only setting herself on fire, but also her two daughters, one of whom was only one year old. The letter written by Vimla just before taking such an extreme step speaks volume about the treatment meted out to her by the accused. Therefore, the basic ingredients of the offence under Section 306 IPC have been established by the prosecution. These features of the prosecution case were sought to be established by the prosecution in order to substantiate the charge under Section 498-A IPC and also for showing that the accused had a motive to commit the crime of murder for which he was actually charged. The cross- examination of the witnesses show that every effort was made to demolish the aforesaid aspect of the prosecution case, namely, that neither any demand of dowry was made nor any gifts or presents or money was received by the accused at a subsequent stage and that Vimla had not been subjected to any kind of harassment or ill-treatment. The next question to be seen is whether the accused was confronted with the aforesaid features of the prosecution case in his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. His statement runs into six pages where every aspect of the prosecution case referred to above was put to him. He also gave a long written statement in accordance with Section 233 (2) Cr.P.C. wherein he admitted that Vimla committed suicide. He also admitted that the scooter and colour T.V. were subsequently given to him by his in-laws but came out with a plea that he had paid money and purchased the same from his in-laws. There is no aspect of the prosecution which may not have been put to him. We are, therefore, of the opinion that in view of the material on record, the conviction under Section 306 IPC can safely be recorded and the same would not result in failure of justice in any manner. The record shows that the accused was taken into custody on 29.3.1991 and was released from jail after the decision of the High Court on 20.3.1997 and thus he has undergone nearly six years of imprisonment. In our opinion, the period already undergone (as under-trial and after conviction) would meet the ends of justice.