MOOT PROBLEM (CRIMINAL LAW)

The Democratic Republic of Quantwa is situated on the Asian continent. Quantwa is a quasi-
federal country comprised of 35 states with a solid central Government. The Laws of
Quantwa are in Pari-Materia with the Laws of India. Sillore is among one of the developed
states of Quantwa. Mohan and Angelina are citizens of Quantwa. They are resident of
Summore, a small town of Sillore.

On dated 25th Feb. 2008, Mohan, aged 29, S/O- Late John, R/O- 54/3-New Ext. Apartment
Summore and Angelina, aged 24 years, D/O- Defrado, R/O- Greater Ango Colony,
Summore, were married according to their religious rituals. Their marital life was going
smoothly. They sometimes used to have a few verbal quarrels, but they reconciled soon after
the verbal fight. Angelina gave birth to a baby girl two years after the marriage on 4th
September 2010. The girl was named as Jennifer. After a few months after Jennifer's birth,
Angelina observed specific changes in Mohan's behaviour. Mohan started behaving rudely
and usually became violent on every petty issue without reason. Initially, Angelina did not
take the matter seriously, but when Mohan's violent character continued, Angelina took her
husband Mohan to the doctor Alfered (DW1), who was a psychiatrist. The doctor advised
Mohan to control their anger and take certain medicines. The doctor diagnosed him to be
suffering from the first stage of Bipolar Mood Disorder (Bipolar disorder, also known as
manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy,
activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. There are four basic types
of bipolar disorder; all of them involve apparent changes in mood, energy, and activity
levels).

Despite the medical treatment, the violent behaviour of Mohan continued to exist. On slight
issues, Mohan becomes violent, and he also starts to fight with Angelina, and he also used to
beat him without any reason. On 5th December 2010 at 11 am, the loud noise of fighting,
crying, and shouting came from Mohan's house. On hearing the cry, Daniel (PW3), who was
a neighbour of Mohan, went into the house of Mohan and found Angelina lying unconscious
on the floor, pooling in blood with various injuries on her body. Daniel saw Mohan hiding a
7-inch Iron Axe in the garden at that time. After that, Daniel called the police, and Angelina
was taken to a government hospital, where she was treated by Dr. Anand (PW2). Mohan was
arrested by police on the same day and was kept in police custody. On 6th December 2010,
Angelina regained consciousness, and her statement was recorded by Jai singh (PW1), SHO
of Summore Police Station. In her statement, she told the police that on 5th December at 10
am, Mohan came home and started violently fighting with her, and when she resisted, Mohan
attacked him with an axe kept in the garden. On 8th December, Angelina died because of an
injury in her lower abdomen, which proved fatal. Jennifer, Mohan's daughter, was sent to the
Government Child Care Centre.

Based on Daniel's statement and Angelina's dying declaration of Angelina, an FIR was
lodged against Mohan. 733/2010 in Flamingo police station. Mohan was arrested and
prosecuted under Section 302 of Penal Code for the murder of Angelina. During
interrogation, Mohan stated that he was unconscious at the time when Angelina was attacked.
He told the police that when he regained consciousness, he found Angelina lying on the floor
with an axe in his hand. He told the police that he did not know from where the axe came,
and he also stated that he did not know how Angelina died.

The final Report was submitted on 3rd Feb.2011, in which Mohan was charged with the
murder of Angelina under Section 302 of Penal Code.

The prosecution examined the material witnesses in the court as follows:

Prosecution Witness 1 (PW1)- Jai singh, SHO, Summore Police Station and Investigating
Officer of the case, deposed before the Court that the deceased Angelina, in her dying
declaration, blamed Accused Mohan for the attack on her. PW1 also deposed before the
Court that the axe used for the attack was recovered from the garden of Mohan on which
there was a fingerprint of Mohan as per the forensic report.

Prosecution Witness 2 (PW)3- Dr Anand, who treated the deceased, deposed before the
Court that the cause of death was due to an attack of the axe, and the injury on the abdomen
proved to be fatal. He also deposed that Angelina was in a mentally fit condition at the time
of making the death declaration.

Prosecution Witness 3 (PW3)- Daniel, who was a neighbour of Mohan and the informant of
the case in FIR, deposed that he saw the unconscious body of Angelina on the floor and
Mohan trying to hide the axe in the garden.
The accused, Mohan, took the plea that he was suffering from Bipolar Mood Disorder for
which he was being treated. He also stated that at the time when Deceased Angelina was
attacked, he was suffering from the disorder, and he was out of his conscience. He did not
know the nature of the act, so he could not be made liable by virtue of Section 84 of Penal
code on the grounds of insanity.

The defence examined the material witnesses in the court as follows:

Defence Witness 1 (DW1)- Dr Alfered, who was treating the accused, Mohan of Bipolar
Mood Disorder, stated before the Court that the accused, Mohan, was suffering from
Bipolar Mood Disorder and the disorder was sufficient to enable a person to do any violent
act under its influence.

Defence Witness 2 (DW2)- Mathew, brother of Mohan, stated before the Court that on
various occasions, Mohan was very aggressive and violent, even for slight reasons.

The State of Sillore vs. Mohan case is committed by the court of Magistrate and listed before
appropriate Court.

Note: The participants are required to frame the issues on their own. Refer to the following
statements and copy of the FIR for examining the witnesses. The laws of Sillore are pari
materia to the laws of India.
Annexures

First Information Report

Police Station: Flamingo Police Station

State: Sillore

Year: 2010

FIR No: 733/2010

1. Date of occurrence: 5th December, 2010

2. Charges: Sec. 302 of the Penal Code

3. Occurrence of the Offense: Date: 5th December, 2010 Time: 11 AM

4. Information received at PS: Date: 8th December, 2010 10:30 AM

5. General Diary Reference Entry No.: 4A

6. Information recorded by: Duty Officer

7. Type of Information: Oral

8. Place of Occurrence: Summore

9. Informant Name: Mr. Daniel

10. Details of Known/Unknown/ Suspected/ Accused with particular: Mr. Mohan

11. FIR Content: Mr. Mohan, who was the husband of the deceased Angelina had
assaulted her with axe and was seen trying hiding the axe in the garden. Later
Angelina succumbed to the injuries inflicted.

Signature/thumb impression of complainant/informant: Daniel.

 Final Report u/s 173 of Criminal Procedure Code.

On 6th January 2010, I received information via DD no 4A that a woman was assaulted in her
house and now admitted to the hospital, and I was assigned the investigation of the present
matter by the SHO concerned. Therefore, I reached the hospital with my team and found that
Angelina had regained consciousness and was ready to give the statement. In her statement,
she told the police that on 5th December at 10 am, Mohan came home and started violently
fighting with her, and when she resisted, Mohan attacked him with an axe kept in the garden.
On 8th December, Angelina died because of an injury in her lower abdomen, which proved
fatal. Meanwhile, Mr Daniel informed us that Mr Mohan had killed his wife. I recorded his
statement, prepared a rukka on the same, and sent the rukka through the Constable for
registration of FIR. The constable went to the PS, registered the case, and returned to the spot
with the original rukka and copy of the FIR. The forensic team was called to Mohan's house,
collecting the chance prints and blood samples from the spot. The body was sent for post-
mortem. I prepared a site plan and recorded Mr Daniel and Dr Anand's statements. Based
upon the statements, the accused, Mr. Mohan, was arrested. During interrogation, Mohan
stated that he was unconscious at the time when Angelina was attacked. He told the police
that when he regained consciousness, he found Angelina lying on the floor with an axe in his
hand. He told the police that he did not know from where the axe came, and he also stated
that he did not know how Angelina died. After his medical, he was produced before the
magistrate, and his PC was remanded for 5 days to recover the axe, perform scene recreation,
and conduct further investigation. However, the axe used for the attack was recovered from
the garden of Mohan, on which there was a fingerprint of Mohan, as per the forensic report.
Subsequently, I collected the post-mortem report from the hospital, which stated that the
cause of death was due to an attack of the axe, and the injury on the abdomen was proven to
be fatal. Thus, based on an investigation conducted and the statement of witnesses, and given
the disclosure of the accused, the offence of murder was found to be committed by Mr.
Mohan.

-Sd.-

Mr. Jai Singh

Investigating Officer