IN RE: KUMARASWAMI NAICKER Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Kumaraswami Naicker was convicted by the learned Sessions Judge, Ramanathapuram Division at Madurai in S.C. No. 108 of 1961 for the offence of murder under Section 302, Indian Penal Code and sentenced to imprisonment for life. He appeals from the conviction and sentence.

(2.) The facts of the prosecution case are brief. The deceased Velammal was the wife of the accused. She and her mother, who hailed from a village called Vellappottal, had come to Rajapalayam. The accused belongs to Rajapalayam. At Rajapalayam, Velammal contracted illicit intimacy with P.W. 8 (Pandi alias Subbiah) before her marriage to the accused. After the marriage, the accused and Velammal stayed for about a year at Rajapalayam doing ghee business. Then he and Velammal went to Vellappottal where they stayed for some time. Velammal fell ill of typhoid and then returned to Rajapalayam for treatment. There she again came in contact with Pandi P.W. 8 and they were living together for about three months when she became pregnant. At that time the accused came to Rajapalayam and persuaded Velammal with some reluctance to go with him to Vellappottal. That was 10 or 15 days before the occurrence.

(3.) At Vellappottal the couple were living in a house abutting a north to south street which is shown in the rough sketch Exhibit P-25. P.Ws. 1, 3 and 4 are neighbours' There is evidence that the accused and his wife used to quarrel during the short time they were living in Vellappottal.