State of Haryana vs Om Parkash and others

K.K. Srivastava, J.

This is an appeal filed by the State of Haryana against the judgment dated 19.4.1991 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Bhiwani acquitting the respondents Om Parkash, Hans Raj, Shanti Devi and Mansa of the offences punishable under Sections 328/302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

Smt. Anguri Devi, the deceased, was married with Om Parkash respondent, who is Bishnoi by caste and resident of village Lilas. She was admitted in the emergency ward of General Hospital, Hissar on 13.9.1989 at 6.00 A.M. as a case of suspected poisoning. Asha Ram, father of Anguri Devi on receiving the information came to the Hospital with his wife and reached the emergency ward where his daughter was admitted. Asha Ram suspected some foul play and moved an application before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hissar who directed Shri S.C. Goel, Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Hissar to go to the Hospital and record the statement of Anguri Devi. Shri S.C. Goel (PW5) reached the Civil Hospital, Hissar and after obtaining fitness certificate Exhibit PG regarding Anguri Devi from Dr. Aditya Kumar he recorded her statement Exhibit PR. She stated that she was married with Om Parkash about 1012 years ago but she was sent to her husband''s house only three years back. She further stated that her husband was serving in the Army. According to her statement, her inlaws used to keep her nicely but after some time they started harassing her because they did not like her. She stated that she was overpowered by her fatherinlaw Hans Raj, sisterinlaw Mansa and husband Om Parkash who held her while her motherinlaw Smt. Shanti administered some drug to her with a view to kill her. After the administration of the drug she at once vomited and became unconscious. She did not know as to who brought her to the Hospital. The drug was administered to her in the evening of 12.9.1989. After the statement was recorded it was read over to Anguri Devi and her thumb impression was obtained in token of its correctness. Thereafter, Shri Goel made his endorsement Exhibit PR/1 and papers were returned to Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hissar vide endorsement Exhibit PR/2. The police approached the Doctor and obtained permission to record the statement of Anguri Devi. The statement of Anguri Devi was recorded by A.S.I. Ram Kumar of Police Station Siwani on the basis of which formal FIR Exhibit PHH/2 was registered on 13.9.1989 at 1.50 P.M. vide D.D.R. No. 11. The date of occurrence was noted as 12.9.1989 at 10.00 P.M. and an offence punishable under Section 328/307/34 of Indian Penal Code was registered at the police station. The special report reached to the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Bhiwani on 14.9.1989 at 10.05 A.M. The case was investigated by ASI Ram Kumar (PW14). On 13.9.1989 he recorded the statements of Constables Satpal and Darshan Singh. The next day i.e. on 14.9.1989 he went to Civil Hospital, Hissar and learnt from Asha Ram that Anguri Devi had died. The hospital peon handed over ruqa of death of Anguri Devi Exhibit PLI to him. He recorded the statements of Asha Ram and Makhan and prepared inquest report Exhibit PMM in respect of dead body of Anguri Devi. The offence was altered to Section 302 of Indian Penal Code. The special report was sent to Halqa Officer and to the Court. The dead body was sent for post mortem examination. Dr. Partap Singh (PW6) Medical Officer, General Hospital, Hissar conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of Anguri Devi wife of Om Parkash on 14.9.1989 at 2.30 P.M. The dead body was brought by A.S.I. Raj Kumar of Police Station Siwani and was identified by Asha Ram and Makhan, father and brother respectively of the deceased. The dead body did not bear any ligature marks. It was a dead body of wellbuilt female of the height of 51" wearing dark brown printed lehanga and kameej, yellowish baniyan, red chunni with red and yellow printed, 8 glass bangles in right wrist and one white metallic tabeez in waist. The rigor mortis was present on all the four limbs. Post mortem staining was present on the dependent parts, mouth was semiopen, eyes, were closed. There were no marks of external injury or violence present on the body. Brain, spinal cord, both lungs, organs of generations were healthy and congested, lyranx and trachea were congested and bloody froth was present. Both the chambers of the heart were healthy and full of blood. 10 cc of blood was taken from heart and sent to Director, F.S.L., a part both of small intestine and large intestine were taken and sent to FSL, both were congested, a part each, of liver, spleen and kidney were also sent to Director, FSL for analysis as they were found congested. Cause of death was deferred till the receipt of the report of the Chemical Examiner. After the receipt of the report of the Chemical Examiner Exhibit PFF, the cause of death was held to be organophophorus poisoning. On the application Exhibit PT of the police, Dr. Partap Singh gave an opinion on 12.12.1989 that all the organs of the body of the deceased where congested which was a sign of poisoning. The duration between taking of poison and death, according to the opinion of the autopsy surgeon vide endorsement Exhibit PT/2 varied from person to person and in the instant case, it was about 36 years (hours). ASI Ram Kumar took into possession viscera vide Exhibit PNN and clothes of deceased vide memo Exhibit PNN/1. He deposited the case property with MHC Narender Singh. On 16.9.1989 he arrested the accused Hans Raj, Om Parkash, Shanti and Mansa at village Lilas and made enquiries from them. Accused Om Parkash suffered disclosure statement Exhibit PQQ and on his pointing he prepared rough site plan Exhibit PQQ/1 of the place pointed out by him and recorded the statements of PWs Ram Rikh, Hari Ram and Vijay Singh HC. The draftsman, Daya Kishan (PW 7) inspected the place of occurrence and prepared site plan in this case Exhibit PU on 2.10.1989. The Investigating Officer recorded the statement of the said draftsman. The statements of Constables Hardev, Krishan and Narender Singh were recorded on 30.9.1989. After completion of the investigations, the challan was submitted against the accused under Section 173 of Code of Criminal Procedure. The case was committed to the Court of Session by the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Bhiwani vide order dated 15.1.1991 to stand trial under Sections 328/304/34 of Indian Penal Code. The Sessions trial was entrusted to the Additional Sessions Judge, Bhiwani and charges were framed against the accusedrespondents Om Parkash, Hans Raj and Shanti Devi under Sections 328/34 of Indian Penal Code. The charges were read over and explained to the accusedrespondents who pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

The prosecution relied on the evidence of Dr. S.K. Goel, Medical Officer PW1, Dr. N.M. Sharma PW2, Dr. Navneet Kumar PW3, Dr. R.S. Bishnoi PW4, Shri S.C. Goel, Judicial Magistrate Ist Class PW5, Dr. Partap Singh PW6, Dayakishan, Draftsman PW7, HC Narender Singh PW8, Asha Ram PW9, Dr. Aditya Kumar PW10, Krishan son of Asha Ram PW11, Smt. Shanti wife of Asha Ram PW 12, Ram Narain 3, ASI Ram Kumar PW14, SI Som Nath PW15, who recorded the formal FIR Exhibit PHH/1 on the basis of the statement Exhibit PHH of Anguri Devi.

Statements of accused under Section 313 of Code of Criminal Procedure were recorded. They denied the prosecution case and suggested their false implication. Accused Om Parkash made the following statement in answer to the question: "Anything else to say":

"I am innocent. The deceased was married with me for the last 10/11 years. In our caste, there are exchange marriages and similarly I have married my two sisters with the two brothers of the deceased. My wife was being kept nicely by us and she was happy with us. No demand of dowry was made by us nor she was harassed on any other account. On the illfated day, she by accident consumed this poison under the pretext of taking medicine for stomach ache. Moment we came to learn that she had consumed poison by accident, she was taken to hospital and an information was also sent to my fatherinlaw. On learning, my fatherinlaw and motherinlaw also came to Hissar. She was got admitted by me and was given treatment. She was with confused and perturbed state of mind and was talking irrelevantly."

Accused Hans Raj made the following statement in answer to the question "Anything else to say" :

"I am innocent. The deceased was married with my son Om Parkash for the last 10/11 years. In our caste, there are exchange marriages and similarly I have married my two daughters with the two brothers of the deceased. Anguri was being kept nicely by us and she was happy with us. No demand of dowry was made by us nor she was harassed on any other account. On the illfated day, she by accident consumed this poison under the pretext of taking medicine for stomach ache. Moment we came to learn that she had consumed poison by accident, she was taken to hospital and an information was also sent to her father. On learning, her father and mother also came to Hissar. She was got admitted by us and was given treatment. She was with confused and perturbed state of mind and was talking irrelevantly."

Accused Shanti Devi also made the statement on the same lines as made above by accused Hans Raj in answer to the question "Anything else to say". Accused persons did not lead any evidence in defence.

The learned Additional Sessions Judge did not place reliance on the dying declaration recorded by the Judicial Magistrate Mr. Goel. He also did not place reliance on the dying declaration recorded by the A.S.I. He held that the prosecution miserably failed to bring the guilt home to the accused beyond shadow of reasonable doubts. Resultantly, the accused were acquitted of the charges levelled against them. Feeling aggrieved against the acquittal of the accused Om Parkash, Hans Raj and Shanti Devi, the State of Haryana has filed the present criminal appeal.

The case of the 4th accused Mansa, daughter of Mansa, who is a Juvenile, is stated to be under trial by the Juvenile Court as mentioned in the memo of the criminal appeal.

We have heard the learned counsel for the State and learned counsel for the respondentsaccused. We have been taken through the evidence on record and the judgment of the learned trial Judge.

The prosecution relied on the dying declaration of the deceased Anguri Devi recorded by Shri S.C. Goel, Judicial Magistrate (PW5) on 13.9.1989 at about 10.30 A.M. at Hospital and also on the statement of deceased Anguri Devi recorded by ASI Ram Kumar (PW14) which is sought to be treated as a dying declaration. The parents of the deceased, namely, Asha Ram (PW9) and Smt. Shanti Devi (PW12) and her brother Krishan (PW11) did not support the prosecution case and they were treated as hostile witnesses. The other witness Ram Narain (PW13) was also treated as a hostile witness as he did not support the case of the prosecution. The prosecution was, thus, left with the two dying declarations, referred to above, made by the deceased Anguri Devi and the medical evidence that she died due to poison, namely, organophosphorus poisoning. The learned Additional Sessions Judge, Bhiwani did not rely upon the evidence of the prosecution in respect of the two dying declarations of the deceased Anguri Devi. He further held that the parents of the deceased had compromised the matter with the accused persons and as such, it was the duty of the Court to do justice which is in the interest of the parties inter se.

Before proceeding to discuss the evidence of the prosecution regarding the two dying declarations of the deceased Anguri Devi, the certain facts of this case may be noticed. Undisputedly, there is a custom of exchange marriages in the caste to which both the parties belong. The three daughters of Asha Ram including deceased Anguri Devi were married with the sons of accusedrespondent Hans Raj. Accusedrespondent Hans Raj had married his two daughters with the two real brothers of the deceased Anguri Devi. Asha Ram has stated in his crossexamination done on behalf of the accused that his three daughters are married in the family of accused Om Parkash, out of whom only Anguri Devi had started going to the house of accused Om Parkash and the other two are still residing at his house. He further stated that similarly, two sisters of accused Om Parkash are married in his family and they have also not been visiting his house till this occurrence. He further stated that in these marriages, in our cases, there was no question of dowry of either kind and so there was no question of harassment on account of dowry. He further stated that it is correct that Anguri Devi was happy at the house of her inlaws and she used to speak high of them. On Parkash was employed in B.S.F. and he used to visit her (Anguri Devi) when he used to come on leave and he was happy with her and had not complained against her. Anguri Devi had also not complained against the accused persons. The statement of Asha Ram, made in his examinationinchief, shows that Anguri Devi was aged about 8 or 10 years at the time of her marriage which took place 1012 years ago. It was about 2 or 21/2 years prior to her death that she started visiting her husband''s house. About 10/12 days prior to the death of Anguri Devi he, accompanied by his wife Shanti, daughter Anguri and sons Hanuman and Krishan had gone to the house of accused Hans Raj in village Chaudhariwas to offer the condolences on the death of the son of Hans Raj. Anguri Devi was left at the house of her husband who had come on leave due to the death in his family. He stated further that Anguri Devi did not resist her being left at the house of her husband Om Parkash nor she told him that if she was left there she would be killed by the accused persons. In the crossexamination conducted on behalf of the prosecution, he was confronted with his statement made before the police to the effect that Anguri Devi had told him that if she is left there she would be murdered by the accused. The statement of Asha Ram (PW9) shows clearly that deceased Anguri Devi had been staying with her parents prior to 10 or 12 days of her death and she was taken to the house of her inlaws by her parents and brothers only on coming to know of the bereavement in the family and for offering condolences. Anguri Devi was left at the house of her husband who had come to his house on leave from his service which he was rendering in B.S.F. Krishan (PW11) has stated in his examinationinchief that accused persons used to keep Anguri Devi nicely. In his cross examination done on behalf of the prosecution, he stated that it was incorrect to suggest that his sister was not liked by the accused as she was not beautiful and also that the accused were not satisfied with the dowry. The statement of accused Hans Raj would go to show that in his caste there are exchange marriages and he had married his two daughters with the two brothers of the deceased Anguri Devi. Anguri Devi was being kept nicely by them and she was happy. No demand of dowry was made by them and she was not harassed by them on that account. A perusal of the dying declaration Exhibit PG will go to show that she did not state about her being harassed by her husband and his parents and sister for the demand of dowry. In her dying declaration recorded by the Magistrate, deceased Anguri Devi stated "............ In the beginning my inlaws used to treat me nicely but after some time they started harassing me. They used to maltreat me because they did not like me......" It would appear from the evidence of Asha Ram (PW9) that accused Om Parkash, husband of the deceased was serving in the B.S.F. and he used to come to his village only during leave. It was only 22 years prior to her death that Anguri Devi used to visit the house of her husband Om Parkash and that too when her husband Om Parkash used to be present there. It is also relevant to note that two sisters of the deceased Anguri Devi had been married with the brother of accused Om Parkash and two sisters of Om Parkash accused are married with the two brothers of the deceased. There is no evidence on record to show that accused Om Parkash, husband of Anguri Devi did not like her. There is no evidence to show that the parentsinlaw Hans Raj and his wife Shanti Devi and their daughter Mansa did not like Anguri Devi. Now in this background, the evidence of dying declaration is to be examined to find out whether dying declaration was made by Anguri Devi voluntarily and of her freewill and without being tutored by anyone and whether it is truthful and deserves to be relied upon without any iota of reasonable doubt to convict the accused persons.

First of all, we propose to take up the evidence of the dying declaration recorded by Shri S.C. Goel, Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Hissar. It appears from the evidence on record that Anguri Devi was got admitted in the Civil Hospital by her inlaws on 13.9.1989 at 6.00 A.M. Dr. N.M. Sharma (PW2), Medical Officer of Civil Hospital, Hissar admitted her and examined her. At 6.10 A.M. she was declared unfit to make statement. However, her condition improved and she was fully conscious at about 8.30 A.M. and fit to make her statement vide entry made at page No. 5 of the bed head ticket Exhibit PF which had been brought before the trial Judge by Dr. S.K. Goel. Dr. Goel (PW1) examined Anguri Devi the same day at 9.30 A.M. and found her pupils semidilated due to atropin given to her to counter organophosphorus poison. Asha Ram had moved application Exhibit PQ before Shri Diwan Chand, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hissar on 13.9.1989. The Chief Judicial Magistrate made his endorsement Exhibit PQ/1 as under:

"Present: Applicant in person.

Shri S.C. Goel, Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Hissar is requested to record the statement of Smt. Anguri Devi admitted in Civil Hospital, Hissar.

Dt. 13.9.1989

According to the statement of Shri Goel (PW5) the applicant presented the application Exhibit PQ to him at about 10.00 A.M. and he in pursuance of the order dated 13.9.1989 of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hissar went to Civil Hospital, Hissar. The applicant met him at the Civil Hospital also. The Civil Hospital is situated at a distance of about 3 kms. from the District Courts. Shri Goel, Judicial Magistrate had gone to the Civil Hospital on his Scooter. He went to the common ward and to the bed where Anguri was lying. Staff Nurse met the Magistrate who asked for the attending Doctor. Dr. Aditya Kumar (PW10), who was on casual ward duty, gave his opinion on the asking of the Magistrate on 13.9.1989 at 10.25 A.M. vide endorsement Exhibit PR, which runs as under :

"Patient Anguri Devi admitted in casualty ward vide CR No. 8897 dated 13.9.1989 is fit to make statement.

According to the Magistrate, Anguri Devi was identified by the said Doctor. The statement of the Magistrate further shows that at the time when he recorded the statement of Anguri Devi, no Doctor was present there. The police was, however, present outside the ward where Anguri Devi was admitted. Anguri Devi spoke local language and according to the statement of the Magistrate Shri Goel it was perhaps a mixed language. The statement was recorded in the language spoken by the deceased and the statement contained her own version. After recording the statement Shri Goel (PW5) asked from Anguri Devi if she would affix her right thumb impression at mark ''A'' of the dying declaration Exhibit PG. The parents of the deceased Anguri Devi were not present near her when her statement was recorded. the Magistrate Shri Goel had no difficulty in recording the sttement of Anguri Devi in her words except at one time when he took the assistance from the attending Nurse. It is relevant to note that Shri Goel (PW5) was not conversant with the Bishnoi language spoken by the deceased Anguri Devi. It is also relevant to note that Dr. Aditya Kumar, who certified Anguri Devi being in a fit condition to make the statement, did not remain present there to ensure that Anguri Devi continued to be in a proper and fit condition throughout the period her statement was recorded and no such certificate appears to have been given by Dr. Aditya Kumar after the recording of the dying declaration was over. The applicant Asha Ram had met Shri Goel (PW5) at 10.00 A.M. with application Exhibit PQ and gave the application to the Magistrate. Shri Goel (PW5), however, stated that he did not remember about having read the application Exhibit PQ and in knowing if the applicant was the father of Anguri Devi. Though, Shri Goel (PW5) had put some general questions to Anguri Devi before recording her dying declaration to make sure that Anguri Devi was making statement to him voluntarily, without any coercion or without any pressure of any kind, but he did not keep on record all the general questions put by him to Anguri Devi and of the answers given by her to those general questions. He also did not remember if he enquired from Anguri Devi as to whether she had already made a statement earlier to anyone or not. He stated that during recording the statement or till he remained in the ward he did not feel that her statement had been recorded earlier also nor he was informed as such. The statement of Dr. Aditya Kumar does not show that he had identified Anguri Devi before Shri Goel (PW5). The attending Nurse, who assisted the Magistrate in explaining some expression used by Anguri Devi during the recording of her dying declaration was not examined by the prosecution. Even the Magistrate Shri Goel did not state as to which was that expression regarding which he felt the necessity of seeking the assistance of the attending Staff Nurse. It is significant to note that the parents of the deceased Anguri Devi had already reached the Hospital and it was Asha Ram, father of the deceased who went to the Chief Judicial Magistrate and moved application Exhibit PQ and again met Shri Goel, Magistrate for handing him the application and also met him later at the Hospital. We find that the aforesaid facts and circumstances are quite relevant and significant to be considered and taken note of in appreciating the findings recorded by the learned trial Judge.

After carefully noticing the facts and circumstances mentioned above, we find that there is no reliable evidence to show that the dying declaration Exhibit PG recorded by the Magistrate Shri Goel, made by Anguri Devi, was a voluntary dying declaration and made without tutoring. The dying declaration Exhibit PG also does not appear to be truthful. Apart from it, the precautions which the learned Magistrate Shri Goel was expected to take, were not taken by him, inasmuch as there is no reliable evidence to show that the condition of Anguri Devi remained fit throughout the period her dying declaration was recorded. There is no certificate of the Doctor to the effect that she remained fit to make the statement throughout the period her dying declaration was recorded. There is no certificate of the Doctor to the effect that she remained fit to make the statement throughout the period her statement is said to have been recorded by the Magistrate. As noticed above, the learned Magistrate though states to have put some general questions to Anguri Devi to make sure that she was giving the statement voluntarily, without any coercion or without any pressure of any kind but no record of the same was kept. Apart from it, the statement of Dr. S.K. Goel (PW1) will go to show that he examined Anguri Devi on 13.9.1989 at 9.30 A.M. and at that time her pupils were semidilated though she was conscious. Besides Dr. S.K. Goel, Dr. Navnit Kumar, Dr. Jagdish Verma, Dr. R.S. Bishnoi and Dr. N.M. Sharma had also examined her and treated her. In his crossexamination, Dr. Goel (PW1) stated that he remained on duty on 13.9.1989 from 8.00 A.M. to 2.00 P.M. he could not give the opinion whether the patient was conscious or otherwise at 6.00 A.M. Dr. N.M. Sharma remained on duty till 8.30 A.M. on 13.9.1989. At about 8.00 A.M. Dr. N.M. Sharma told him about the treatment given and also about the treatment to be continued. The same treatment was continued and nothing was changed in the prescription of Dr. N.M. Sharma. Dr. Sharma had advised inhalation of oxygen and at 8.00 A.M. when Dr. S.K. Goel took charge of the patient, oxygen was not being given to her. He stated that from perusal of record he could say that there is no mention about the oxygen being given to the patient or not. He, however, could not say if the dilation of the pupils is directly related with the mental condition of the patient. According to the statement of Dr. N.M. Sharma, Anguri Devi was fit at 8.30 A.M. on 1.9.1989. The same day on police application Exhibit PL he had given an opinion vide his endorsement Exhibit PL/1 that poisoning by Organo Phosphorus could be dangerous to life and the fatal period could be variable and it could be 34 hours. also. Anguri Devi died at 7.50 A.M. on 14.9.1989.

In the absence of a reliable evidence regarding deceased Anguri Devi being in a proper frame of mind at the time of making her dying declaration and further that she made the dying declaration and of her freewill and without tutoring from anyone, it is difficult to place reliance on such a dying declaration. We are, thus, of the considered view that the dying declaration Exhibit PG recorded by the Magistrate Shri Goel cannot safely be relied upon and the same cannot be held to have been made by the deceased Anguri Devi voluntarily and without being tutored and of her own freewill. Apart from it, having regard to the family background and the custom prevalent in the caste of the deceased and the accused, according to which exchange marriage took place and that besides the deceased, two other sisters had been married with the brothers of her husband Om Parkash and two sisters of her husband having been married with her own two brothers, it is difficult to hold that Anguri Devi was being harassed by her husband and inlaws for a demand of dowry or that they did not like her. That being so, the contents of the dying declaration do not appear to be truthful. Resultantly, the learned trial Judge rightly rejected the evidence of dying declaration recorded by the learned Magistrate.

So far as the statement of Anguri Devi recorded by ASI Ram Kumar (PW14) is concerned, it contains the same allegation as made in the aforesaid dying declaration Exhibit PG recorded for the Magistrate. For the reasons stated above, we do not consider it appropriate to rely upon the dying declaration recorded by ASI Ram Kumar. There is no other evidence on record except the evidence of the two dying declarations.

So far as the death of Anguri Devi is concerned, there can be no doubt that she died due to the administration of the poison, namely, Organo Phosphorus. The question is whether the poison was administered to her by her motherinlaw Shanti Devi, while she was held forcibly by the remaining accused persons or whether she herself look the same under some mistake and accidentally. Asha Ram (PW9) has, in his crossexamination done on behalf of the accused persons stated that accused Hans Raj had come to him to inform that Anguri Devi had taken some medicine and she was admitted in Hissar Hospital. He stated further that when he reached the Hospital and contacted her daughter Anguri Devi she told him that she suffered stomach pain and she took some insecticide under the belief that it would give relief to pain in her stomach. ASI Ram Kumar (PW14) has stated that the deceased has in her statement, recorded by him, said that on 12.9.1989 she suffered pain in her abdomen. She informed her husband at about 10.00 P.M. and again she felt pain in stomach. The accused Om Parkash went to her and offered medicine to her. It appears that the deceased Anguri Devi took Organo Phosphorus accidentally in order to get relief from the stomach pain and unfortunately, it proved to be the poison. It may be mentioned that Anguri Devi was taken to the hospital by her inlaws and her husband was also present there. It will appear from the statement of Dr. N.M. Sharma (PW2) that patient Anguri Devi was brought by her relatives as mentioned in bed head ticket. He stated that he remembered that husband was with the patient. According to Dr. Sharma, mother and father of the patient came to the casualty ward after admission of the patient at about 8.00 A.M. At the time of the admission Anguri Devi at 6.00 A.M. on 13.9.1989 her history was given by her husband etc. The conduct of the accused persons in taking Anguri Devi for treatment to the Hospital and remaining there militates against their being guilty persons. We have further noted from the statement of the autopsy surgeon (Dr. Partap Singh PW 6) that the possibility of death in this case could be suicidal as there was no mark of injuries or violence present over the body of Anguri Devi deceased. At any rate, the administration of poison to Anguri Devi by her motherinlaw Shanti Devi accused in the manner as stated by her in the dying declaration, has not been proved by the evidence on record.

Resultantly, we find that there is no force in this appeal. The appeal is dismissed.