ABDUL NAZAR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is against the judgment of the Sessions Court, Kozhikode in S.C. No. 419/2008 convicting the appellant herein, who was found guilty under Sections 302, 342, 366 and 392 IPC. The appellant was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life under Section 302 of IPC with the rider that the appellant shall not be released from the prison for a period of 25 years in all. The appellant was also sentenced to pay fine of Rs. 2,00,000/- and in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 4 (four) years. For offence under Sections 366 and 392 IPC sentence of 7 years imprisonment and fine of Rs. 25,000/- and in default one year rigorous imprisonment was imposed for both offences separately. For offence under Section 342 IPC, sentence was imposed to undergo imprisonment for one year. It was further ordered that substantive sentence of imprisonment shall run concurrently. The appellant was not found guilty under Sections 376 and 201 of IPC.

(2.) On 11/06/2001, deceased Radhika's body was found on the verandah of a shop room named Annai Arts. The shop room is having door No. VII/458 of Kunnamangalam Panchayat. The prosecution case is that the appellant, who is the occupier of room No. VII/452 made an attempt to commit rape on the deceased and committed murder by strangulation. The appellant was also chargesheeted for theft of gold chain of the deceased. Prosecution also have a case that the deceased was residing with the appellant and when deceased Radhika made an attempt to go to her house she was wrongfully confined in the house of the appellant. It is submitted by the prosecution that after commission of the offence to cause disappearance of the evidence, the appellant dragged dead body of the deceased to 10 mts. away from his room and kept it at the verandha of the shoproom-Annai Arts.

(3.) The court below ruled out the death of deceased as a suicide. PW 12, a doctor who conducted the postmortem suggested that death was due to hanging.