NANDYALA VENKATARAMANAversusSTATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

                (2010] 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R. 643


             NANDYALA VENKATARAMANA                                     A
                             v.
             STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH
             (Criminal Appeal No. 1 of ,2006)
                                                   . ~:
                                                     r
                    OCTOBER 26, 2010
                                                                        B
   [HARJIT SINGH B.EDI AND CHANDRAMAULI KR.
                  PRASAD, J'J.]

    Penal Code, 1860:                                 .·,\ \.
                                                          ·. r
     ss. 304-8 and 498-A- Dowry de.a th- Suicide by a woman
                                                                        c
in her matrimonial home within one year of her marriage -
Conviction of husband of deceased and his father - Affirmed
by High Court - Appeal by husband - HELD: In addition to
the evidence of prosecution witnesses with regard to repeated 0
demands for dowry and harassment to the deceased, there
are three letters (including the one addressed to the Collector)
written by the deceased shortly before her death which sp~ak •
of the harassment that she was undergoing - She has stated
that she had been harassed and demands for dowry had been E
made right from the beginning of the marriage - These letters
clearly inculpate the husband in the incident - Evidence.

    Evidence:

      Oral evidence - Discrepancies ·in - HELD: In a case . F
where a large number of witnesses appear for the prosecution,
some discrepancies are bound to occur- In the instant case,
several prosecution witnesses were completely independent
and the Court finds no reason to disbelieve their testimonies
- In any case, corroboration (if any required), can be found G
in Exts. P-2 to P-4, which, as per the evidence of the hand;.
writing expert, were in the handwriting of the deceased- Penal
Code, 1860 - ss. 304-B and 498-A.

                                                                             I
                            643                                  , .H :

                                                                            I ..
                                                                 · l.
    644     SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2010] 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R.


A       CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
    No. 1 of 2006.

        From the Judgment & Order dated 23.03.2004 of the High
    Court of Judicature, Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad in Criminal
8   Appeal No. 1712 of 1997.

         T. Anamika, D. RamaKrishna Reddy (for Asha Gopalan
    Nair) for the Appellant.

          I. Venkatanarayana, Ramesh Allanki (for.O. Mahesh Babu)
c   for the Respondent.

          The order of the Court was delivered by

        HARJIT SINGH BEOI, J. 1. This appeal, by way of
    special leave, arises out of the following facts :
D
          The deceased, Bhavani by name, was married to
    Nandyala Venkatarama·na-Appellant on 27th April, 1992 and
    at the time of marriage, the appellant had been given a dowry
    of Rupees one lakh in cash and other presents as well. On the
E   night of the marriage itself, the appellant demanded some
    additional costly items from his wife. After the marriage, the
    deceased resided with her husband and in-laws at Cuddapah
    but the four accused that is the appellant, his parents and
    brother continued to harass her for money and other goods. A
F   Panchayath was subsequently held in which the elders were
    involved and it was decided that the deceased and her
    husband would live separately and that the husband would seek
    a.transfer from Cuddapah. The in-laws, nevertheless, continued
    to harass the deceased and to interfere in their private life. It
G   appears, however, that despite the appellant and the deceased
    living in a separate house, the demands for ·dowry continued
    unabated and this information was conveyed by the deceased
    to her mother, other relatives and her colleagues. About two
    days prior to the date of occurrence, the deceased visited her
    mother's home and told her as to the way she was b~ing
H
    NANDYALA VENKATARAMANA v. STATE OF                        645
    ANDHRA PRADESH [HARJIT SINGH BEDI, J.}
maltreated. On the 10th of April , 1993 at about 8:30a.m., the        A
deceased committed suicide by hanging herself in the main hall
of the house of her mother leaving behind three dying
declarations in the form of letters Exhibits P-2 to P-4. PW-1
(the mother of the deceased) who had gone to the market
returned and found her daughter hanging from the ceiling fan.         s
The body was taken down and was, thereafter, subjected to a
post-mortem and it was reported that she had died of asphyxia
due to hanging. During the course of the investigation, the letters
Exhibits P-? to P-4 were referred to a hand-writing expert who
opined that the English sentences in the letters were in the          c
handwriting of the deceased but he could not compare the
Telugu sentences for want of admitted specimens.

       The husband A-1, his parents and brother were accordingly
brought to trial for offences punishable under Sections 304-B
and 498-A of the Indian Penal Code. The Trial Court on a              D
consideration of the evidence convicted the appellant and-his
parents but as the mother had died during the course of the
trial, no sentence could be awarded to her. The brother of the
appellant, A-4 was, however, acquitted.
                                                                      E
    The matter was, thereafter, taken in appeal before the High
Court which too confirmed the conviction and sentence
awarded by the Trial Court.

    2. This appeal has been filed by A-1 (the husband of the          F
deceased).

      3. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone
through the record. In addition to the evidence of PWs.1 to 12
with regard to the repeated demands for dowry and ha.rassment
to the deceased, we have three letters Exhibits P-2 to P-4            G
written by the deceased shortly before her death which speak
of the harassment that she was undergoing. PW-8, the hand-
writing expert to whom the letters had been referred for the
purpose of comparison, opined that the English sentences in
the letters were in the handwriting of the deceased but he could      H
    646    SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2010] 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R.


A   give no report with respect to the Telugu writings as there were
    no admitted writings of the deceased. Exhibit P-2 is a letter
    addressed to the Collector. In this letter, the deceased has
    stated that she had been harassed and demands for dowry had
    been made right from the beginning of the marriage. Likewise
s   Exhibit P-3 and P-4 refer to the facts that she continued to be
    harassed for dowry, cash and other articles and that she was
                                        a
    feeling .frustrated as she was not in position to ask her mother
    for any more dowry or cash. We are, therefore, of the opinion
    that the letters aforesaid clearly inculpate the appellant in the
C   incident.

          4. The learned counsel for the appellant has, however,
    pointed out that there were discrepancies inter se the
    statements of PW's-1 to 10, and as such their evidence could
    not be accepted without corroboration. We find ho merit in this
D   submission as some discrepancies are bound to occur where
    a large number of witnesses appear for the prosecution. In this
    case, several of the prosecution witnesses were completely
    independent and we can find no reason to disbelieve their
    testimonies. In any case, corroboration (if any is required), can
E   be ·found in Exhibits P-2 to P-4, which, as per the evidence of
    PW-8, were in the handwriting of the deceased.

        5. We, thus, find no merit in the appeal. It is accordingly
    dismissed.
F   R.P.                                        Appeal dismissed: