MUNUSAMY Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) : The sole accused, who stood charged, tried and found guilty under Sec. 302 of IPC and awarded a life sentence along with a fine of Rs. 2. 000/-by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, karaikal, has brought forth this appeal.

(2.) THE short facts necessary for the disposal of this appeal can be stated thus : (a) The appellant/accused along with his wife Anjammal, since deceased, and P. W. 1 paramasivam, P. W. 2 Bagatsingh, P. W. 3 jeevanantham and P. W. 4 Perumal, the children, was living at his residence at Chinna kovil Pathupet, Karaikal. The accused was suspecting the fidelity of his wife, and he would further doubt that she had illicit intimacy with his first son P. W. 4. On 11 -6-1999 at about 8. 00 p. m. , the accused came in a drunken mood and quarrelled with his wife. Against order of Addl. Sessions Judge, pondicherry at Karaikal in S. C. No. 51 of 2000, D/- 26-3-2001. He was pacified by the children, and even then, he continued to abuse his wife, the deceased, in filthy language. The children were sleeping in the other house belonging to them situated in opposite. At about 3. 00 a. m. on 12-6-1999, they heard the cry of the mother (Vernacular matter omitted. . . . . . Ed. ). On hearing this, all of them woke up, came out and saw the accused with the knife in hand. P. W. 3 made an attempt to catch him; but, the accused intimidated him. P. W. 10 Mohan, who is a neighbour, on seeing the accused, went nearby, and p. Ws. 1 to 3 caught hold of him. P. W. 10 plucked the aruval from his hand and placed it in his house. Immediately, the accused fled away from the scene of occurrence. The injured Anjanimal was taken to the Government Hospital, Karaikal, One Dr. Suresh, who was in the hospital, admitted her. Later, she was treated by P. W. 7 Dr. Sivakumar at 3. 45 a. m. Since she was unconscious, no further statement could be recorded from her. (b) When P. W. 15 Ranganathan, the Sub-Inspector of Police, Karaikal Police Station, was on duty at 4. 00 a. m. , P. W. 1 gave a written complaint to him, on the basis of which a case was registered in Crime No. 182/99 under Sections 307 and 324, IPC. The First information Report Ex. P. 16 was despatched to the Court. P. W. 15 proceeded to the spot, made an observation in the presence of two witnesses and prepared Ex. P2 observation mahazar and Ex. P3 rough sketch. Photos were'caused to be taken through a photographer. M. O. 2 bloodstained mat, M. O. 3 bloodstained bed-sheet and M. O. 4 bloodstained earth were recovered under Exs. P4 and P5 mahazars respectively. At about 7. 00 p. m. , the injured Anjammal who was under treatment, died. An intimation was sent to the concerned police station. On receipt of the same, P. W. 15, the Sub-Inspector, converted the case into one under S. 302, IPC. The altered report Ex. P17 was despatched to the Court. An intimation was sent to P. W. 16 Padmanabhan, the Inspector of Police. (c) P. W. 16, the Investigating Officer, received a copy of the FIR. He immediately proceeded to the spot and made an observation. He called a photographer to take photos of the dead body. The photos and their negatives are marked as Exs. P. 18 and p. 19 respectively. Then, he proceeded to the general Hospital and conducted inquest on the dead body of Anjammal in the presence of Panchayatdars and witnesses. Ex. P. 14 is the inquest report. A requisition was forwarded to the hospital for conduct of postmortem on the dead body. (d) P. W. 8 Dr. Narasimha Murthy, Assistant Surgeon, Department of Forensic Medicine, General Hospital, Karaikal, on receipt of the requisition, conducted autopsy on the dead body of Anjammal and found the following external injuries. 1. A spindle shaped stab injury 5 cm x 3 cm x abdominal cavity deep seen situated over right side of abdomen in right anterior axillary line 6 cms. below costal margin directed obliquely upward and medially. 2. Stab injury 2 x 0,5 cm x cavity deep seen on right chest on anterior axillary line at the level of 5th rib, 3. Incised Injury 4 x 1 cm x skin deep seen over lateral aspect of right elbow. 4. Incised Injury 3 x 1. 0 cm x skin deep seen on medial aspect of right elbow. 5. Stab Injury 0. 75 cm x 0. 5 cm x skin deep seen below Injury No, 1, 6. 7 cm x 2 cm x skin deep incised Injury seen on left forearm on its lower 1/3 on posterior aspect. The Doctor has issued Ex, P. 8 postmortem certificate recording his opinion that the death is due to Hypovolaemic shock as a result of injuries sustained. (e) During the investigation, the accused was arrested at 5. 30 p. m. by P. W. 16 the inspector. Then, P. W. 16 brought him to the station at 6. 15 p. m. , when he gave a confessional statement, the admissible part of which is marked as Ex. P15. Pursuant to the confessional statement, he took the Investigating Officer to the place of occurrence, where P. W. 10 Mohan took out M. O. 1, knife, and the accused identified the same as one used by him at the time of occurrence. The knife has also been recovered under a mahazar. All the material objects recovered from the place of occurrence and from the dead body and M. O. 1 knife recovered at the instance of the accused were sent to the court along with a requisition for chemical analysis. Accordingly, they were placed before the Forensic Sciences Department, as a result of which Ex. P11 Chemical Analyst's report and Ex. P12 Serologist's report were forwarded. Apart from that, a requisition was given to the Judicial Magistrate for recording the confessional statement of the accused. Accordingly, P. W. 17 Parthasarathy, judicial Magistrate, recorded the same. Ex. P26 is the said confessional statement. On completion of the investigation, the final report was laid by the Investigating Officer.

(3.) IN order to substantiate the charge levelled against the accused, the prosecution examined 19 witnesses and relied on 30 exhibits and 7 material objects. On completion of the evidence on the side of the prosecution, the accused was questioned under Sec. 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as to the incriminating circumstances found in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses. He denied them flatly as false. No defence witnesses were examined; but, a photo was marked on his side as Ex. D1. The trial Judge on consideration of the rival submissions and on scrutiny of the materials available, found him guilty as per the charge and awarded the sentence referred to above. Hence, this appeal.