SURESH Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment dtd. 4/5/2019 in S.C. No. 139 of 2016 on the file of the Additional Sessions Judge"III, Pathanamthitta. In the aforesaid case, the appellant herein was charged for having committed offences punishable under Ss. 447, 294(b), 506(ii), 325, and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). By the impugned judgment, he was found guilty:

(2.) The appellant, Suresh, is a close relative of the deceased Purushothaman, and resides adjacent to the house of the deceased. The prosecution case is that on the morning of 5/1/2015, an altercation occurred between the accused and the wife of the deceased, Radhamani who was examined as PW5. At the time of the altercation, the deceased, a rubber tapper by profession, was not at home. He returned around 12:30 p.m. after completing his tapping work. It is alleged that the appellant, with the intention to cause the death of the deceased, trespassed into the courtyard of house bearing No. VP/VII/281 of Vallikode Village and abused the deceased. A verbal altercation ensued, during which the appellant allegedly pushed the deceased forcefully. The deceased fell into a drain located on the southern side of a short wall separating his property from the adjacent road. The drain measured approximately 60 cms. in width and 1.8 meters in depth and ran in an east-west direction. As a result of the fall, the deceased sustained serious injuries, particularly to his vertebra. He was rushed to Amma Hospital at Kottayam, where he was seen by a doctor at 12:50 p.m. The doctor suspected traumatic quadriplegia, and the injured was referred to the Medical College Hospital, Kottayam.

(3.) The case was made over to the learned Sessions Judge. When the charge was read over, the accused pleaded not guilty.