MANJUNATH C N Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The judgment and order of conviction dated 24.1.2011 passed by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Chitradurga in S.C.No.7/2010 convicting the accused/appellant herein for the offences punishable under Sections 302 and 504 of IPC is called in question in this appeal by the convicted accused.

(2.) Case of the prosecution in brief is that the accused is the husband of PW.3 Lalithamma; their marriage was performed about 18-20 years prior to the incident in question; two children were born out of the wedlock, among them PW.1 is the son; the deceased Lakshmamma is the mother of PW.3 and the mother-inlaw of the accused (i.e. the maternal grand-mother of the complainant PW.1); the accused was working as a driver in Bangalore; he was residing with his family at Bangalore for about ten years after his marriage; since the relationship between the accused and PW.3 were strained, the wife of the accused viz., PW.3 came back to her mother's house and started living with her mother (deceased); two children accompanied their mother and started living in their maternal grand-mother's house at Chitradurga along with their mother; however, the accused continued to work and live at Bangalore; he used to come to Chitradurga once in a month etc.; about a year prior to the incident in question, the accused left the job of driver at Bangalore and he also joined his family, which was residing in the house of the deceased; the accused started living with his wife and children but he was not doing any work; he cultivated the habit of consuming alcohol; he used to quarrel with his wife, mother-in-law and his children on one or the other reason; the accused used to torture his wife for money; whenever the money is not provided by the wife of the accused, the accused used to assault her; whenever the children of the accused used to play, the accused did not like the children playing and he used to assault and scold the children with a view that they should study and they should come-up in life; whenever the accused used to quarrel with his wife and children, the maternal grandmother of the complainant (deceased) used to intervene with a view to pacify the quarrel and at that point of time, the accused used to quarrel with his mother-in-law (deceased).

(3.) In order to prove its case, the prosecution, in all, has examined 13 witnesses and got marked 16 exhibits and 5 material objects. On behalf of the defence, no witness is examined and no document is marked. As mentioned supra, the trial Court, on evaluation of the material on record convicted the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 302 and 504 of IPC and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment accordingly.