NAGARAJAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) Being aggrieved by the common impugned order dtd. 29/11/2021 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Madras Bench at Madurai dismissing the Criminal Appeal preferred by the appellant being Crl. A. (MD) No. 137/2015 and allowing the suo motu revision being Crl. R.C. (MD) No. 248/2015 thereby convicting the appellant under Ss. 306 and 448 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as "IPC"), the present Criminal Appeals have been filed by the appellant (accused).

(3.) Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the appellant was the neighbour of the deceased Smt. Mariammal. On the night of 11/7/2003, the appellant entered the room of the deceased and while hugging her, attempted to outrage her modesty. Upon hearing the disturbance, the mother-in-law of the deceased intervened and scolded the appellant, who then fled from the premises. The next day i.e., on 12/7/2003, at around 5:00 A.M., the mother-in-law of the deceased found the deceased and her infant daughter missing from the house. Thereafter, she searched for them and enquired about their whereabouts from the deceased's father. It was later revealed that in the morning, the deceased had visited the school where her elder daughter was studying in Class III and attempted to take her away. However, due to the absence of the warden, the teachers did not allow the child to leave. The deceased thereafter went to a nearby field with her infant of one and half years and committed suicide by consuming oleander seeds and also administered poison to her child. Both the deceased and her child were later discovered by a passerby who was grazing cattle nearby, who then alerted the village watchman. Although the child was still alive when found, she was declared dead when she was taken to the hospital.