PALANI P Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction passed by the Presiding Officer, Fast Track Sessions Court-XVII, Bengaluru City, in Sessions Case No.1018/2009 dated 23.1.2012 whereby the appellant/accused is convicted for the offence punishable under section 302 of Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and a fine of Rs.5,000/-.

(2.) Briefly stated, the prosecution case is that the deceased Miss. Jithin George was a Lab Technician working in the Microbiology department at Apollo Hospital, Bengaluru. The accused was also working in the same hospital as Lab Technician in Hematology department. They were loving each other. It is the case of the prosecution that on 28.5.2009, at about 12 O' clock in the mid-night, the accused was seen in the cabin of the deceased engaged in hot discussion. In the morning, when the house keeping staff (PW.6) entered the cabin, she found the deceased lying on the floor with a blanket covered on her body. As she did not respond, she was immediately taken to the ICU where she was declared dead. There was a ligature mark on the neck of the deceased.

(3.) The PSI of J.P. Nagar Police Station - PW.17 having been informed of the death memo received from the Apollo Hospital, immediately rushed to the ICU and received a written complaint from PW.7 - another Lab Technician working in the Hematology department. In the said complaint, it was stated that on the night of 28.5.2009, the accused was found in the cabin of the deceased. Further, the complaint contained a specific allegation that the accused murdered the deceased by strangulating her neck with some wire and has been absconding since then.