SIVARAJAN Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) There are three accused persons in this case. The 1st, Sivarajan alias Ampi aged 22, is the servant of the 2nd, Krishnan Nair aged 44; and the 3rd, Sekharan aged 23, is the brother of Pw. 30, a kitchenmaid in the 2nd accuseds house, and, it is said, a friend of the 1st accused. The 1st accused has been convicted under S.302, Indian Penal Code, of the murder of Saraswathy Amma alias Baby, aged 38, the wife of the 2nd accused, and under S.201, Indian Penal Code of, causing disappearance of evidence of the murder. He has been sentenced to death for the former offence, but has been awarded no sentence for the latter. The 2nd accused, who was charged under S.109, Indian Penal Code with having instigated the aforesaid offences by the 1st accused, and the 3rd accused who was charged under S.34, Indian Penal Code, with having joined the 1st accused in the commission of the offences, have been acquitted. The 1st accused has appealed against his conviction and sentence while the learned Sessions Judge has submitted the proceedings for confirmation of the sentence. The State Government has appealed against the acquittal of the 2nd and 3rd accused. Criminal Appeal No. 88 of 1958 is the appeal by the 1st accused while Criminal Appeals Nos. 160 of 1958 and 161 of 1958 are the appeals by the State Government against the acquittal of the 2nd and 3rd accused respectively.

(2.) The deceased and the 2nd accused were married 10 years and were living in the 2nd accuseds house at Pattom in the city of Trivandrum. (This house is referred to in the evidence and in the judgment of the court below as the Pattom house, and Ext. P1 is a plan of the house and its immediate surroundings). The deceaseds mother, Pw. 2, was living in Pazhavangadi (her house is referred to as the Pazhavangadi house) about 2% miles away. The deceased had three children, the 1st a boy named Sakthidharan aged eight, the 2nd a girl, Rajalakshmi alias Rajam aged six, and the 3rd, again a girl, Girija alias Thankam aged four. All of them were going to school, the youngest to a nursery school just opposite the Pattom house and the older two, to different schools a little distance away. The boy used to go to school in the morning and return only at about four in the evening. The two girls used to go home for their mid-day meal at about half past twelve and go back to school at about half past one to return at about four. (Although the second child had no school in the afternoon, she used to go to the nursery school with her younger sister and play there until that school gave over in the evening). The 2nd accused was a P.W. D. Contractor and was also running a lodging house called the Modern Tourist Lodge where he had an office. He used to leave home for work at about nine in the morning and return only at about nine in the night. The 1st accused, an out-door domestic servant was engaged about nine months before the occurrence which took place on the afternoon of 5th August 1957, and he was living in the house. The only other inmate of the house was the maid-servant, Pw. 30, but she was away on leave from the 2nd August,

(3.) The deceased was last seen alive between 1-45 P. M. and 2 P. M. on Monday the 5th August 1957. That was in or about her house. At about 10 P. M. on Wednesday, the 7th August, her body was found lying buried (but partly exposed) at the spot marked B in the plan, behind the cowshed in the south - western corner of the compound of the house. Her husband, the 2nd accused, reported this at the Cantonment Police Station at three the next morning, and at 9-30 or 10 the body was exhumed under the direction of the Magistrate, Pw. 60, and was identified by her relatives and neighbours. The autopsy held that afternoon by the doctor, Pw. 31 revealed that the deceased had been killed by a cut on the back of her neck with a sharp heavy instrument such as a chopper. The cut had gone right through the spinal column, severing the axis from the atlas and completely dividing the cord Death must have been instantaneous and, judging from the contents of the stomach, must have taken place within an hour or two after the deceased had her last meal.