THANGARAJU Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal by the accused Thangaraju against the judgment, dated 30th April, 1980 in Sessions Case No. 89 of 1979, on the file of the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge, Salem, finding him guilty under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, convicting him thereunder, and sentencing him to undergo imprisonment for life. The case against the accused before the trial Court is that on 18th February, 1979, at about 10 a.m. in Alamarathu Field in Chinna punavasal Village, the accused Thangaraju intentionally cut his mother Alamelu Ammal with a spade and thereby the deceased died at that place instantaneously.

(2.) TO substantiate the charge of murder against the accused, appellant herein, the prosecution had examined before the trial Court P.W.1 to P.W.12 and filed Exhibit P -1 to Exhibit P -20. It also produced before the trial Court M.O.I spade, M.O. 2 blood -stained earth, M.O. 3 gunny bag, M.O.4 saree and M.O.5 petticoat. In Chinnapunavasal Village, Kanagappa Udayar lived with his wife Alamelu, the deceased herein. They are the parents of P.W.1 Gnanambal. Sarasu is the younger sister of P.W. 1 Gnanambal. Kanagappa Udayar and the deceased Alamelu were having two sons apart from the above mentioned two daughters. P.W.1 Gnanambal is their eldest daughter. She had lost her husband and has been living in the said village in the house of her father -in -law as a. widow. She has been eking her livelihood by doing cooly work. P.W. 4 Marudha Udayar is the eldest son of Kanagappa Udayar. The accused Thangaraju is the second son of the said Kanagappa Udayar. P.W. 4 Marudha Udayar and the accused are the elder brothers of P.W.1 Gnanambal. P.W.5 Subbu Udayar is the maternal uncle of the accused, P.W. 1 Gnanambal and P.W. 4 Marudha Udayar, Thangammal is the wife of P.W.4 Marudha Udayar, P.W. 2 Manivel and P.W. 3 Kumaravel belong to Chinna punavasal village, and they are acquainted with P.W. 1 and their family. The members of the family of the accused have been living mainly on cultivation as their occupation. P.W. 4 Marudha Udayar and the accused Thangaraju, after their marriage, were living separately partitioning their properties. Kanagappa Udayar and the deceased Alamelu Ammal were living together in a house separately from their sons and daughters. For the benefit of Kanagappa Udayar and his wife the deceased Alamelu Ammal, about 14 -Kuzhis - of land were allotted separately. About six months prior to the occurrence in this case, Kanagappa Udayar, without the consent of his wife the deceased Alamelu Amma1, sold away her jewels. On account of the same, there was quarrel between them. Hence the deceased Alamelu Ammal came away separately and had been living in the house of her daughter P.W.I Gnanambal and was eking her livelihood by doing cooly work. P.W.1, Gnanambal was also eking her livelihood by doing cooly work. Thereafter, the deceased Alamelu Ammal did not go to the house of her husband. She was living with only with P.W.1 Gnanambal. Kanagappa Udayar did not give any amount towards maintenance to his wife the deceased Alamelu Ammal. A panchayat was held in the village for providing food and cloth to the deceased Alamelu Ammal. One Marudha Udayar, Ramalinga Udayar and Chandrasekara Udayar were the persons who constituted the panchayat in arriving at a decision that 7 -Kuzhis - of land had to be allotted to Kanagappa Udayar and 7 -Kuzhis - of land hadto be allotted to his wife the decea -sed Alamelu. They were nanja lands. The accused Thangaraju was cultivating the land belonging to Kanagappa Udayar on lease. The accused Thangaraju, who is the elder brother of P.W. 1 Gnanambal, asked his mother the deceased Alamelu Ammal to give the land allotted to her share in the partition for his personal cultivation. The deceased Alamelu did not heed to the request thus made by the accused Thangaraju. In fact, the deceased had given the land on lease to P.W.4 Marudha Udayar and the lease was 5 bags of paddy. Even after demand by the deceased about two weeks prior to the occurrence, P.W. 4 Marudha Udayar did not give her share of paddy from the proceeds in the harvest. Even thereafter Marudha Udayar ploughed the land and transplanted paddy seedlings in the field. On the day of the occurrence, i.e., on a Sunday, at about 9 or 10 a.m., the deceased Alamelu went to P.W.4 Marudha Udayar and asked him as to why he trans -planted paddy seedlings in her portion of the land without paying her share of paddy and that she would pluck out the seedlings from the transplanted portion of the field. The said information was given to P.W. 1 Gnanambal by a girl. At once P.W. 1 ran towards the nanja land which is situated on the southern side of the village. There was drizzling at that time. At that time, just ahead of her, P.W.2 Manivel was proceeding covering his head with a towel. He had to traverse a distance of about 1 - furlongs in order to go to his land by passing through the land in question. It was at that time P.W.1 saw the accused Thangaraju cutting the deceased Alamelu twice with the spade with which he was armed then by pushing down the deceased with his right hand also by holding the tuft of the deceased with his left hand. He delivered two cuts on the reck and one cut on the chest of the deceased with the blade portion of the spade. P.W.1 Gnanambal and P.W.2 Manivel raised alarm. -Aiyo, appa - and came back running. Without reaching the place of occurrence, they had returned to the village in order to inform about the occurrence. It was then P.W. 3 Kumara -vel was coming through the land belonging to one Maradappa Chettiar. P.W.2 Manivel informed the details of the occurrence that he Witnessed to P.W.3 Kumaravel and thereafter P.W.2 Manivel ran towards the village saying that he would inform the villagers about the occurrence. Following P.W.3 Kumaravel, P.W.1 proceeded towards the scene of occurrence. At that time, P.W. 1 Gnanambal found her mother lying dead. On seeing P.W.3, the accused, the appellant herein, threw away the spade and ran away from that place. P.W.1 went near the dead body of the deceased. She found cut injuries on the person of the deceased. There was pool of blood remaining and flowing at the place of occurrence. The head of the dead body was lying on the ridge of the field and her body was lying in the cultivated portion of the land. It was at that place in the filed, paddy seed lings to a quantity of about a gunny bag were found plucked and destroyed. Soon thereafter, the persons in the village gathered there. Kanagappa Udayar, father of P.W.1 had gone to Manjanai to attenda marriage. The maternal uncle of P.W.1 came to know about the details of the occurrence. After inspecting the place of occurrence and after enquiry, regarding the occurrence, the said maternal uncle of P.W.I proceeded to give a complaint regarding the occurrence.

(3.) P .W. 3 Kumaravel was proceeding to the lake for bringing water towards lock of the lake during the time of the occurrence. In order to reach the Alamarathu field, one has to go through the land belonging to Varadappa Chettiar. That was the course taken by P.W.3 Kumaravel on that occasion. It was during that time two persons were coming opposite to him in the land belonging to Varadappa Chertiar. P.W.2 Manivel came running saying that the accused Thangaraju had cut his mother Alamelu Ammal. At once P.W.2 ran away towards the village. P.W. 1 Gnanambal and P.W. 3 Kumaravel went to the place of occurrence. At that time when they reached the place of occurrence, they found that the life of Alamelu Ammal got extinct. There were two cut. wounds on the neck and one cut wound on the chest of the deceased. The accused Thangaraju ran towards east.