SEBASTIAN ALIAS CHEVITHIYAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals challenge the conviction of the appellant under Sections 302, 364, 369, 376(f, 392 and 449 of the Indian Penal Code and the award of the death sentence for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the I.P.C. and to various terms of imprisonment for the other offences. The facts are as follows :

(2.) On 1st August, 2005, PW1 was sleeping in the verandah of his house along with his son Saran, whereas his wife was sleeping inside the house along with their daughter Shemi, aged two years. As a matter of safety, PW-1 used to shut the door of the house from the outside. At about 4:00 a.m. on the 2nd August, 2005, PW-1 was told by his wife that Shemi was missing. The couple thereafter made a frantic search for the child in the vicinity and also called out loudly to her. Hearing the noise, the neighbours assembled and joined the search party. An hour later, the naked dead body of the child was found near the bridge across the AVM Canal and it was observed that two gold chains, one from the neck and the other from the waist, were missing. The dead body was brought to the house and the matter was reported to the police. An FIR Exhibit P-1 was accordingly recorded at about 7 a.m. in the Police Station. The police arrived in the village and made the necessary inquiries. The dead body was also sent for a post-mortem examination which was conducted by PW-9. The Post-mortem revealed that :

(3.) The accused who was seen loitering close by was arrested and sent for a medical examination. PW-10, the Assistant Surgeon, certified that he was capable of committing the sexual act and also found one abrasion 1 cm. on the left side of the forehead, another abrasion on the left side of the chest and multiple abrasions on the left shoulder, the left forearm and on the back. The police also sent some of the articles which had been picked up from the place of incident including human hair, fibers of synthetic yarn and the frock which the child had been wearing to the laboratory for examination. Pursuant to a search of the appellant, two chains which were identified as those worn by the child when she had been despoiled and murdered were recovered, in the presence of PW-13. The police also sent the swabs and smears taken from the child and her frock and from the clothes that the appellant had been wearing at the time of the incident, and the laboratory reported the presence of semen and spermatozoa in the vaginal swab of AB blood group on his underwear and trousers and further opined that the blood group of the appellant and the deceased child was AB (positive). The police also recorded the statements of PWs-5 and 6, the neighbours of the complainant who deposed that they had seen the appellant roaming around in the vicinity of the complainants house on the previous day.