JUDGMENT Tripathi, J. - This appeal is directed against a judgment of the learned Sessions judge of Bulandshahr convicting the Appellant u/s 302 and 201 IPC and sentencing him to imprisonment for life and five years' rigorous imprisonment respectively under these counts. Smt. Sharbati wife of the Appellant was also put up on trial for the aforesaid offences but she was acquitted. 2. According to the prosecution Appellant Bhim Sen had a step brother named Sheo Dan who died about 2 1/4 years ago. In Sheo Dan's life time the two step brothers were not pulling on well and Brum Sen had shifted to reside in the family gher in the abadi while Sheo Dan along with his wife Smt. Bindo continued to live in the reisdential house. After Sheo Dan's death his widow Smt. Bindo began to take help from the villagers for getting her fields cultivated. Bhim Sen highly disliked Smt. Bindo's taking help from other persons and his relations with the widow became severely strained. On November 21, 1962, there was a quarrel in the field between Smt. Bindo and Bhim Sen regarding irrigation. Suit. Bindo took water in her fields to which Bhim Sen objected because according to him it was his turn to take water. They exchanged harsh words and Smt. Bindo later on returned home. At about noon she went to the gher with cowdung and sat down to prepare cow dung cakes. Her brother's eleven years' old daughter Kashmiri who was living with her during those days was also in the gher playing with other children. Bhim Sen came out of his chappar and an altercation again started between him and Smt. Bindo. Bhim Sen get enraged, caught Smt. Bindo's neck from back side and began throttling; it with the result that she fell back on the ground and instantaneously expired. Bhim Sen made a pyre over the dead body with cow dung cakes and phoos and set it on fire. Kumari Kashmiri who was a helpless spectator of the ghastly tragedy cried hoarse which attracted the attention of the passersby. They extinguished the fire and succeeded in extricating Smt. Bindo's body from the pyre although a major portion of the same had been consumed by the fire. Meanwhile Bhim Sen bolted away from the place. Kumari Kashmiri who was a helpless spectator of the ghastly tragedy cried hoarse which attracted the attention of the passersby. They extinguished the fire and succeeded in extricating Smt. Bindo's body from the pyre although a major portion of the same had been consumed by the fire. Meanwhile Bhim Sen bolted away from the place. A written report of the occurrence was sent to the police station by Mukat Lai one of those who had reached the scene giving the essentials of the prosecution story on the basis of which a case was registered and investigation followed. 3. Sub Inspector Mahabir Singh reached the scene of occurrence at 8 pm. He held an inquest on the dead body and sent it for post mortem examination. He took in his custody burnt clothes of the' deceased, burnt bones and ashes which were lying near the pvre and also some pieces of burnt kandas. Except the kandas. the other articles were placed under sealed covers. After completion of investigation he sent up the Appellant and his wife for being tried upon charges Under Sections 302 and 201. IPC. 4. Dr. G.S. Sud, Medical Officer, Incharge Bulandshahr Hospital preformed the post mortem examination on the dead body of Smt. Bindo. It was a burnt up body of a female. He found that the bones had burnt and fractured. Only the left upper extremity in the upper end of humorous with shoulder was present. Skin of both soles were present but there was no line of redness or vesicle on it. No ante mortem injury or fracture was visible on the dead body and the cause of death could not be given. Dr. Sud, however had preserved the viscera's. When examined (sic)hs a court witness before the learned sessions Judge Dr. Sud stated to a question put by the court that he did not find any ante mortem burns and that whatever burns he found they were post (sic)ortern. He could not say whether here had been ante mortem burns or of on the dead body before. 5. At the trial the Appellant pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied his complicity in the crime. He could not say whether here had been ante mortem burns or of on the dead body before. 5. At the trial the Appellant pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied his complicity in the crime. According to him his relations with the deceased were very cordial and they were carrying on their cultivation jointly He says that he had gone to his sister's house in district Budaun and it was there that he received information about Smt. Bindo imtno-iating herself on pyre and he then returned to the village. He denied that Kumari Kashmiri had ever lived with Smt. Bindo. 6. Smt. Sharbati has stated that while, she was cooking food in the family house she heard a row that Smt. Bindo had committed suicide by enclosing herself in Bitauras and settinsr fire to it. People of the village arrived too late to be of any help and Bhim Sen was given the news at his sister's house She also stated that Kumari Kashmiri never lived with Smt. Bindo. 7. In order to substantiate its charges the prosecution examined a number of witnesses. Mukat Lal and Kalyan Singh (P. Ws. 1 and 2) stated to have arrived in front of the gher when the quarrel was still going on between the Appellant and the deceased and to have seen the Appellant throttling his sister-in-law. Nathi Singh and Gopaliram (P. Ws. 3 and 4) testified to have been attracted to the scene on hearing shouts of Kumari Kashmiri and to have seen the dead body of Smt. Bindo already burning on fire. They have added that they joined other persons in extinguishing the fire and pulling out the dead body. Kumari Kashmiri (P.W. 5) is an eleven years' old daughter of Bindo's brother who is resident of village Kasirnpur police station Dadon in the district of Aligarh. She says that she had been living with the deceased about a year before the occurrence and that she had seen the Appellant throttling the deceased to death and later on burning her on a pyre. The other evidence produced in the case is only of a formal character. 8. She says that she had been living with the deceased about a year before the occurrence and that she had seen the Appellant throttling the deceased to death and later on burning her on a pyre. The other evidence produced in the case is only of a formal character. 8. The learned Sessions Judge held that prosecution witnesses 1 to 4 "are all liars and their depositions can be discarded as false." According to him they picked up the story from Kashmiri who was there and attempted to men-ion hearsay as something which they had themselves seen and heard. He, therefore, rejected their testimony in so far as it purported to give an eye-witness account of the occurrence but held that they had reached the scene and had extinguished the fire. The learned Sessions Judge, however, was of the opinion that Kashmiri was a truthful witness and her testimony which found corroboration from the medical evidence on record was reliable. He, therefore, held the charges established against the Appellant on the basis of that evidence. 9. Learned Counsel for the Appellant has argued that Kashmiri being a child of 11 years and a part of her testimony in so far as it tried to implicate Smt. Sharbati also in the crime having been held by the learned Session Judge as unreliable and a result of "what had been dinned into her ears," it will not be safe to affirm the conviction of the Appellant on the basis of her testimony specially when it finds no corroboration from any other evidence or circumstance appearing on the record. It has been urged that the finding of the learned Sessions Judge that Kashmiri's evidence found corroboration from the medical evidence is not correct inasmuch as Dr. Sud had categorically stated that he could not find any ante mortem injuries on the dead body and he was not able to scribe the reasons which had led to her death. We find force in these contentions. 10. Although legally there is no bar in accepting the uncorroborated testmoney of a child witness yet prudence requires that courts should not act on the uncorroborated evidence of a child whether sworn or unsworn. We find force in these contentions. 10. Although legally there is no bar in accepting the uncorroborated testmoney of a child witness yet prudence requires that courts should not act on the uncorroborated evidence of a child whether sworn or unsworn. This is so because "the difficulty with child wit nesses often is that they can be made to believe in things which they themselves have not seen and that this belief, when once it gets hold of a child witness, is difficult to shake" ( 1959 AWR 248 ). When the testimony furnished by Kashmiri is tested in the light of the aforesaid observations it fails to inspire confidence. She says that she does not know where Smt. Sharbati was at the time of occurrence but she was certainly in the house. She again said that Smt. Sharbati too had given blows with fists to the deceased. She was unable to give correctly the directions of the door of the house occupied by the deceased and herself. She says that she did konw anyone in that village except Punjabi and Mukut Lal whom she had come to know since the last one month. She admitted to have come to depose in the witness box from her residential village of her grandfather and stated to have known Sukhram and Bhim Sen of Ghirauri since a day before only. She denied the suggestion that she had never been living with the deceased. The statement of this witness that she could know Bhim Sen and Sukhram of Ghirauri since a day before only is highly significant. If she was living with her bua who happend to be the sister in law of Bhim Sen, since about an year before the occurrence and had seen Bhim Sen throttling her with her own eye how could she say that she had come to know, only since yesterday. That shows that the statement made by the Appellant that she was brought to village Ghirauri after the death of her bua for the purpose of giving evidence cannot be ruled out as altogether inv probable. That shows that the statement made by the Appellant that she was brought to village Ghirauri after the death of her bua for the purpose of giving evidence cannot be ruled out as altogether inv probable. In any case having perused her statement with care we are of opinion that it is not of that character on which implicit reliance can be placed and in view of the fact that she happens to be a child witness it will not be safe to affirm the conviction of the Appellant on its basis. 11. The learned Sessions Judge being faced with this difficulty has tried to find out corroboration of her testimony from the medical evidence on the record. According to him as no ante mortem burns were found on the dead body the theory of the deceased having committed suicide must be ruled out as false and it must beheld that she was put on fire after having met her death by some other means. He has, further held that there is no circumstance showing that Smt. Bindo was un happy with her life and wanted to end it, and therefore it was not possible to hold that she had committed suicide. In the circumstances according to the learned Judge, as her dead body was found burning inside the gher it was for the accused to explain how Smt. Bindo met her death. We are unable to agree with this line of reasoning. 12. If the testimony furnished by Kashmiri is discarded there is no direct evidence left on the record to connected the Appellant with the crime. Some, of the witness who had tried to give an eye witness account have been rightly disbelieved by the learned Sessions Judge and their production only shows that the prosecution has tried to lead suborn evidence in the case. The circumstance that Smt. Bindo's dead body was found burning in a heap of Bitauras in a gher jointly owned and occupied by her and her husband's brother the Appellant and his wife, is not of that conclusive nature which is inconsistent with any other hypothesis but the guilt of the accused. The accused has denied his presence on the date of occurrence. Smt. Sharbati who also according to the. prosecution had participated in the occurrence and was admittedly present at the time had been acquitted by the trial court. The accused has denied his presence on the date of occurrence. Smt. Sharbati who also according to the. prosecution had participated in the occurrence and was admittedly present at the time had been acquitted by the trial court. The various organs of the deceased had already been consumed by fire and Dr. Sud was unable to find out whether it had any ante mortem injuries on it and what was the cause of her death. In the circumstances no light is received from the medical evidence regarding the cause which led to the death of Smt. Bindo. The observations of the learned Sessions Judge that because ante mortem burns could not be found by the doctor it must necessarily be held that she was put on fire by others alter her death is to slender a basis to find out corroboration to the testimony of Smt. Kashmiri, Even if Smt. Bindo had received ante nortem bums on some portions of her body then they would not have been available to the doctor when he performed the post mortem examination on a ccount of its having been burnt beyond recognition. In any case we do not hink it will be safe for us to utilize his small circumstance which is not of (sic) conclusive nature for providing corroboration to the testimony of Kashmri. 13. In view of the aforesaid discussion of the evidence and circumstances appearing on the record we are of opinion that the conviction of the Appellant cannot be affirmed and he must be given the benefit of reasonable doubt. 14. Accordingly we allow the appeal and set aside the conviction and sentence of the Appellant. His bail bonds are discharged and he need not surrender.