MADHUSUDAN LAW COLLEGE, CUTTACK, ODISHA ARMONIA 2015 MOOT COURT PROPOSITION 1. Himtal is a small underdeveloped town in north-west Odisha with a very thin population. This town is one of the coldest places of the state. It is built on highlands but the outskirts are mostly marshy and covered with dense forest. Apart from other places, it has a town square, a few recreational places and one local library. Pallavi Mishra, a woman aged 26 years, was the librarian of the local library. 2. Pallavi, an intelligent and attractive woman, was married to Shrikant Mishra since 29 th February, 2008. Her husband, a dealer in pesticides and insecticides, used to go to the neighbouring town which was 5-6 hours away, very often, for business supplies. She was a very friendly lady and shared a cordial relationship with people visiting the library. Of the many regular visitors to the library, she had developed friendship with a person named Varun, who was a writer and professional district level cricketer. Varun was a strong and well-built man with a very jovial, mellow, humorous and quick-witted personality. They bonded over their love for literature and with passage of time their relationship became more intimate. Although she was married, yet she responded to his advances. 3. Everything went well for a few months but eventually their relationship got strained, owing to the temporary occasional erratic and violent behavior of Varun, which was in sharp contrast to his usual nature. When things got more complicated, Pallavi decided to back out of the relationship and stopped talking to him without giving any reason. Varun tried talking to her and she eventually agreed to meet and settle the matter. 1
4. Pallavi s husband went out of town for a few days to get supplies and on the morning of 28 th December 2012, she called Varun to meet on that very evening. At around 5 P.M., after closing of the library, Varun picked her up from the end of the town square. En route to the forest on his bike, they were seen by two local people (P.W. 2 and 3). 5. At around 8.30 P.M., P.W 4, who happens to be an acquaintance of Varun, saw him walking towards his bike from the forest, parked beside the main road, in a very hurried manner. P.W. 4 called out to Varun, who didn t respond and rode away. 6. Shrikant tried calling Pallavi throughout the next day and when she didn t pick up the call, he called their neighbours to enquire about her. On not finding her whereabouts, he returned to the town on the night of 30 th December, 2012. On 31 st December, 2012 he filed an F.I.R in the local police station. 7. On 4 th January, 2013, the dead body of Pallavi was found in a damp and marshy place in the heart of the forest. On post-mortem, which was conducted the next day, various injuries were found on her body and the cause of death was determined to be intake of monocrotophos. The date and time of death could not be conclusively determined, yet from the state of decomposition of the body it was opined by the doctors that the death could have occurred 3-4 days ago. 8. During investigation, P.W. 1 came forward and stated that on the night of 28 th December, 2012, he met Varun and being his flat mate, tried to indulge him in a friendly conversation. But Varun seemed very distant, cold and unresponsive. He behaved very strangely and tried to leave the place. On being enquired further by P.W. 1, he turned uncharacteristically angry and shouted at him, revealing in the process that he had just beaten Pallavi very brutally and left her at a certain spot, which happened to coincide with the place where the dead body was discovered. 9. Varun was arrested and during interrogation he stated that he doesn t remember anything about that evening apart from picking Pallavi up and having an altercation with her on the road. During his physical examination, the Doctor (P.W. 5) found some scratches on the back of the neck of the accused. In course of trial, the court ordered for a psychiatric evaluation of the accused. On examination, it was found that he is suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. The Psychiatrist (P.W. 6) also examined the father of the accused (D.W.1) and he gave statement regarding the accused s previous occasional unpredictable behavior. 2
10. The Trial Court held that the fact that the accused is suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder doesn t exempt him from criminal liability and relying on the facts, circumstances and evidence adduced convicted Varun under section 302 and 325 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to life imprisonment. 11. Being aggrieved, the accused has preferred an appeal to the Hon ble High Court of Orissa. 12. The POST MORTEM REPORT includes: [A] Cause of death is monocrotophos intake [B] Abrasions on skin [C] Nature of injuries on body- Ante Mortem [D] Meat chunks found in the digestive track [E] Paraffin found in blood [F] Face is bruised [G] Right jaw line fracture [H] Lower right pre molar detached [I] Deep red marks on shoulder and neck [J] Ulna fractured [K] Patella dislocated 13. ACCUSED S MEDICAL REPORT [A] Scratch marks on the back of the neck of the accused [B] Suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder 14. FORENSIC REPORT [A] Scrapes of skin tissue found under the fingernails of the deceased matches with the DNA of the accused. [B] Accused s left hand s fingerprints found on deceased s right cheek. [C] A branch found nearby the scene of occurrence had accused s fingerprints and blood of the deceased. 15. Witness Statement: During the trial the following statements were recorded. 3
[A] Prosecution Witness 1: I am Varun s flat mate and we were on good terms. On 28 th December, 2012, I was in the apartment s parking lot when I saw Varun parking his bike there between 9 P.M. to 9.30 P.M. I walked up to him as we hadn t met since a week. But he behaved very differently and wasn t his usual self. Initially he tried to walk away without paying attention to me but I caught up to him and asked him how he was. He seemed very perplexed and briefly answered that he was well. When I enquired about his behavior, he got very angry, shouted at me and asked me to leave him alone. He also threatened me and said that he had beaten Pallavi to pulp and left her in the forest and would do the same to me if I didn t leave him alone. I didn t know who Pallavi was and thought that he was ranting in anger. I touched his shoulder to calm him down but he shoved me and punched my face. I tried to push him away and in the process, his head hit the wall which knocked him unconscious. I poured water on his face and when he woke up, he couldn t recall any of that. [B] Prosecution Witness 2: My friend and I were coming back to our house from work when we saw Varun and Pallavi going towards the forest on his bike. We saw them on Sheikh Road at 5.30 P.M. We were a little surprised to see them together. [C] Prosecution Witness 3: My friend and I were coming back to our house from work when we saw Varun and Pallavi travelling on Varun s bike away from the city towards the forest. We encountered them on Sheikh Road at around 5.15 P.M. [D] Prosecution Witness 4: On 28 th December, 2012 I was coming back from the saw mill when I saw Varun sir coming out of the jungle and walking towards his bike at around 8.30 P.M. I called out to him but he didn t respond to me and behaved as if he didn t recognize me. He seemed to be in a hurry; kick started his bike and rode away. It seemed very awkward to me as it was opposed to his usual cheerful nature. I know him well and we usually talk. [C] Prosecution Witness 5: When I examined the body of the accused, some abrasion marks were found on the back of his neck. There were 8 scratches. 4 of them were deep abrasions while 4 others were superficial grazes and scrapes. They could have been caused by the deceased s fingers. 4
[D] Prosecution Witness 6: When I examined the accused, I found that he is suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. The accused s mind has created 2 different personalities. The mind switches between the two personalities and when it does, the dominating personality dictates the behavior and thought process of the accused. The host personality of the accused is very calm and normal whereas the other personality is violent and volatile. I also examined the father of the accused who backed the story of the accused. [E] Investigation Officer: During investigation, the bike of the accused was seized and in the side-box we found a few books, writing pad and an empty bottle which had traces of kerosene in it. A branch containing the accused s finger prints and blood of the deceased was found at the scene of crime. When we checked the call records of the victim, there were several calls in her log from her husband, the accused and her other relatives. [F] Defense Witness 1: I am Varun s father. Usually he is easy going happy soul but since childhood, at times he gets very violent and talks unreasonably as if he isn t himself. But such behavior is momentary and he doesn t recall anything that happens during that period, when later enquired. When he grew up, his condition deteriorated but as our relationship was distant, I never considered taking him to a psychiatrist. [E] Statement of the accused: I am a writer. I love gardening, cricket and basketball. I also play cricket for the district team. I am a right handed batsman and a right handed orthodox off-spinner. I fell in love with Pallavi. We had some problems and she seemed very upset about it. So, we decided to meet and on 28 th evening we went to the outskirts of the town. I do not remember anything other than picking her up that evening and having a small altercation with her on the road. I woke up in the parking lot. I tried calling her many times but got no answer from her. DISCLAIMER All characters in the above moot proposition are fictional. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. 5