VINU Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The sole accused in S.C.No.2476 of 2004 on the files of the Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram is the appellant. He was tried by the II Additional Sessions Judge, Thiruvananthapuram on a charge for the offence punishable under Sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). He was convicted for the offence under Sec. 304, Part I of the IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of eight years. The said judgment of conviction and order of sentence are under challenge in this appeal filed under Sec. 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Code).

(2.) The case of the prosecution is as follows: At about 5.30 p.m. on 27/5/2001 the appellant inflicted injuries to his wife using a chopper at her neck and other parts of the body at the kitchen of the house of PW2. The injured succumbed to the injuries on her way to the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. The appellant caused murder of his wife, doubting her chastity.

(3.) On the appellant denying the charge, the prosecution has examined PWs.1 to 18 and proved Exts.P1 to P17. MOs.1 to 11 were identified also. When examined under Sec. 313(1)(b) of the Code, the appellant denied all the incriminating circumstances appeared against him in evidence. He maintained that he was innocent. He stated that the chopper and the shirt seized by the police did not belong to him. He was taken to the police station for questioning with an assurance that he would be released after questioning. The police, instead, falsely implicated him in the case. The defence evidence let in was Exts.D1 to D3, which are the contradictions in the evidence of PWs.2 and 5.