KANNAKUNNUMMAL AMMED KOYA Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE scene of the incident in this case is the verandah of a building belonging to P. W. 3. It abuts on a road and has three rooms facing north, with a long verandah in their front. The western room is let to P. W. 1 who runs a copra business there; and in the other two rooms P. W. 3 himself conducts a grocery shop and a tea shop. At the western end of the verandah is a platform which the scene mahazar shows to be 8 ft. long, 3 ft. wide and cement plastered. Adjoining this verandah is an accessory verandah I1/2 ft. in width. The height of the platform from the accessory verandah is 3 feet 3 inches. The shops of P. W. 3 are usually attended to by him and, in his absence by his sons. Ahmedkutty was a son of P. W. 3 whose pass in the B. Sc. degree examination was announced only 3 or 4 days before the incident. On June 23, 1966, P. W. 3 was not in. station. At about 10 a. m. Ahmedkutty went to attend the shops and relieved his brother who was there till then. He got a daily newspaper to read. At about 11 a. m. P. W. 1, who was then inside the shop with its shutters removed, saw his reclining on the abovesaid platform with his head to the north and reading the daily. In a little while P. W. 1 heard a faltering sound and beating of legs from the platform, and looking that side he found the accused holding Ahmedkutty by his chin and cutting his neck with a dagger-knife. P. W. 1 raised a loud cry. P. W. 2, who was then approaching the shop for purchasing soap, heard" the cry and rushed into the courtyard and saw the accused cutting the neck of the deceased. By then P. W. 1 came out to the verandah and the accused ran away with the dagger in hand. The post-mortem certificate shows that the trachea, gullet and the major arteries on both sides of the neck were cut completely, and the spinal chord was cut and exposed at the level of the third cervical vertebra. Mammunny went in a jeep to fetch P. W. 3 and he came in the jeep to the shop by about 4 P. M. P. W. 1 went to the Police Station at 4 p. m. and gave the First Information. At about 5-30 p. m. the accused was arrested from the house of a cousin of his and a blood-stained dagger and its sheath recovered from him. The Sub-Magistrate, Kozhikode-II, committed the accused for trial to the Sessions Court. The accused denied to have had anything to do with the murder. The Sessions Judge, Kozhikode, found him guilty, convicted him under Section 302, I. P. C. and sentenced him to death. R. T. No. 3 of 1966 is the reference made to this Court under Section 374, Cri. P. C. and Criminal Appeal No. 55 of 1966 is the appeal preferred by the accused.

(2.) THAT the accused had killed Ahmed-kutty is not now disputed. It is argued that the accused was suffering from schizophrenia and therefore did not know the nature of the act he did or that it was wrong and that he is entitled to the benefit of Section 84, I. P. C.

(3.) THE evidence shows that the deceased was then lying on his back and reading a daily newspaper, with his head to the north. Unless the accused approached him cautiously from the north and caught him unawares by the chin and immediately cut his neck in the butcherly way he did, the offence could not have been committed so swiftly. The deceased could only falter out a little sound and beat the floor with his legs as his neck gave way to assailant's knife. P. W. 1, who was within a few feet, did not hear any noise before the dagger-knife had plunged deep into the deceased's neck. The circumstances make it obvious that the accused had approached the deceased without making any noise, even of footsteps, and caught him by surprise. It is also obvious that the accused, even as he approached the deceased, had the knife ready in hand for the cut without even a moment's delay. If there was any, the shortest time lag between the catch and the cut, the deceased could and would certainly have made some noise and P. W. 1, who was within a few feet, would have heard it. P. W. 1 and P. W. 2 have sworn that the accused caught the deceased by the chin with his left hand and cut his neck with his right hand. The accused must then be on the deceased's right side. The accused was thus on the accessory verandah and the deceased was lying on the platform 31/4 high. The accused is a man of 60, and the deceased a youth of 22. But for the stealth in the approach, the firmness of the grip and the suddenness of the cut, it was impossible to have the incident executed in the manner it was actually done. The mode of execution of the murder does not spell out any doubt on the mental capacity of the accused at that time. The fact that he ran away, when he saw P. W. 1 and P. W. 2 come to the spot, also shows that he was conscious of his act being wrongful.