JINNAPPA AND SUBBAPPA GABANNAVAR Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a very sad case. A young lady and two of her children were killed on the night intervening 30/11/1956 and 1/12/1956 in their residential house in Varoor village, Dharwar District. The accused who is the husband of the deceased Devakka and the father of deceased Nemchandra and Basawwa is charged with having murdered his wife and his two children.

(2.) The Prosecution case is that the accused who used to suffer from fits of insanity and thus given to insane impulses was also given to gambling which created financial troubles for him and thereby he was constrained to sell portions of his ancestral lands. It is said that his wife being worried about his conduct used to constantly find fault with him. This is said to be the motive for the murders in question. We have the evidence of P. W. 1. the police patil on this Point.

(3.) The pleas taken on behalf of the accused are somewhat incongruous. He denies having anything to do with the incident in question but at the same time, a plea of insanity is also Put forward on his behalf, A plea under Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code implies an admission on the part of the accused that the acts for which he was; prosecuted were done by him. Unifluenced by his inconsistent pleas, we shall proceed to consider the prosecution case on its own merits.