NIHAS Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants/accused are faced with conviction for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34. The-appellants are brothers. The deceased Nazimudeen is yet another brother.

(2.) Homicide of Nazimudeen is not disputed. As admitted by the prosecution, Nazimudeen was residing in another house nearby that of the accused along with PW.2, his wife. The deceased had a quarrel with his wife who fled away with her child from his house and took asylum in the house of the accused. The deceased followed her and asked his mother not to give her asylum. PW.1, the mother, kept her in a room to save her from the deceased. The deceased broke open the door and assaulted his mother and attempted assault on PW2. It was in that situation, the accused took MO1 chopper which was available in the front room of the house and inflicted injuries successively on the deceased. He succumbed to the injuries on the spot itself. It is also the prosecution case that one among them took a tapioca club from the adjacent room and had beaten the deceased.

(3.) The prosecution examined 14 witnesses, marked Exts.P1 to P18 and identified M.Os. 1 to 10. The accused attempted to plead that the occurrence had taken place in a different way, as spoken by PWs.1, 6, 8 and DW.1. The Court below considered the evidence on record and found that the prosecution has succeeded in proving the guilt of the accused and sentenced them to undergo life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 1000/- each. Default sentence was also imposed. This finding is assailed in this appeal.