KANNAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Alcohol drowns sorrows, but in the rich and poor alike, it let loose demons, often with dire consequences to women, who are sadly always at the receiving end. We have before us the story of an impecunious existence carried on with odd jobs, pockmarked with drunken revelry and discords, one of which instance culminated in the male partner beating up his female partner brutally, leading to her sad death.

(2.) The prosecution case is that the accused and the deceased were living as husband and wife in a house owned by PW9. In the present and the earlier residence, there were allegations of constant quarrel between the pair. The accused used to remain away for construction work, for which he travelled to the neighbouring Malappuram District. On 17.06.2018, the accused in a drunken state approached the nearby shop of PW2 and purchased two sweets, in the course of which he told PW2 that he had killed his wife, in the vernacular Tamil. Later, PW3 the son of PW2 also told her that he saw the accused, on his way, who told him the same thing. PW2 contacted PW1, who was an employee of the house owner and along with him went to the house rented out by the accused, where the deceased was found lying naked and dead, in a pool of blood.

(3.) The case is built on circumstantial evidence and there is no ocular witness to the murder which happened in the closed confines of the rented house in which the accused and the deceased were living. Before the trial Court, the prosecution examined twenty-one witnesses, marked twenty-four exhibits and twenty-three material objects. The trial Court convicted the accused under Section 302 IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,00,000/-(Rupees One lakh only) with default sentence.