STATE OF KERALA Vs. CHELLAPPAN SANAL KUMAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The respondent was tried by the Sessions Judge, trivandrum for offences under S. 302, 392, 457, 369 and 201 of the indian Penal Code and was acquitted of the charge in its entirety. The state filed an application under S. 378 of the Code of Criminal procedure, 1973 before the High court of Kerala with a prayer that leave to appeal against the judgment of acquittal rendered by the trial court be granted. The application was rejected by an order dated 10/01/1975 which is challenged in this appeal by special leave.

(2.) The deceased in this case is a I year-old female child named Rajni who was the daughter of Rajan (Public Witness 5) and his wife Santhanalakshmi (PW 2). The respondent Sanal Kumar is the first cousin of the said Rajan, their respective mothers being real sisters.

(3.) The prosecution case may be stated thus. Actuated by greed of gain the respondent went, at the dead of night to a house consisting of three rooms including the one in which the unfortunate child was sleeping with her mother. He effected ingress into the middle room after unhasping its door by means of a long batten introduced through a facing window. He then crossed into the room with the child, caught hold other) smothered her with a piece of cloth, brought her outside the house into the open, relieved her of the gold ornaments that she was wearing and then threw her dead body into a nearby pond after tying stones to it.