BALAPRASANNA SIVAKUMAR Vs. INSPECTOR OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant has been convicted under Section 302, I. P. C. and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000 in default to undergo, R. I. for one year. He was also convicted under Section 392 r/w. 397, I. P. C. and sentenced to undergo R. I. for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000 in default to undergo R. I. for one year. Both the sentences have been ordered to run consecutively.

(2.) THE prosecution case is as follows: the deceased is one Mayurani, a Srilankan student, who was residing in the first floor of the house belonging to one Solaimalai (P. W. 1 ). The accused is also a Srilankan student studying in a different college, but staying in the second floor of the same premises. The occurrence allegedly took place in the afternoon of 22. 4. 2003. The First Information Report was lodged by P. W. 1 on 24. 4. 2003 at about 9. 30 A. M. It was indicated in the First Information Report that on 24. 4. 2003 at 9. 00 A. M. , while the informant had gone to perform pooja in the first floor of the house, he smelt foul odour in the last room of the first floor and found blood seeping through the front door. On opening the window he noticed that Mayurani was lying in a pool of blood with her face covered with a bag. On the basis of the aforesaid F. I. R. , investigation was taken up initially by P. W. 40. Subsequently on the basis of the order of the High Court, such investigation was completed by P. W. 42.

(3.) THE prosecution relied upon only circumstantial evidence, namely, confessional statements of the accused leading to recovery of various incriminating materials. Ex. P-6 is the statement leading to recovery of Travel bags (M. Os. 2 and 3), knife (M. O. 5), wooden log (M. O. 28) rubber gloves (M. O. 29 series) cotton rope with human hair (M. O. 30 series), two sponges soaked with blood (M. O. 31 series), bloodstained blue colour jean pant (M. O. 32), bloodstained white banian (M. O. 33), colour banian (M. O. 34), bloodstained grey colour pant (M. O. 35), bloodstained pillow (M. O. 36), plastic bucket (M. O. 37) from the house of P. W. 3. Ex. P-8 is the statement leading to recovery of computer and its accessories (M. Os. 6 to 17) from the house of P. W. 15, a classmate of the accused. Ex. P-10 is the statement relating to jewelleries, ultimately leading to recovery of gold ingots (M. O. 18 series) from the house of P. W. 19 on the basis of other connecting statements of P. W. 17 and P. W. 18. These three statements, Exs. P-6, P-8 and P-10 dated 26. 4. 2003, were made before P. W. 40 in the presence of P. W. 22 and C. W. 1. The other confessional statement Ex. P-12 dated 22. 9. 2003 made before P. W. 42 and Subbiah and P. W. 24, led to recovery of "m" dollar (M. O. 38) and key with key chain (M. O. 39) from the toilet in the room of the accused. The prosecution has also relied upon the alleged motive to the effect that the accused urgently wanted money with a view to increase his marks in mathematics and, therefore, the accused had stolen articles belonging to the deceased.