SUBRAMANIAM ALIAS PALANISAMY Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS judgment shall govern the two criminal appeals, namely, C. A. Nos. 439 and 497 of 2000. While C. A. No. 439/2000 is brought forth by A-3, C. A. No. 497/2000 is brought forth by A-1, A-2 and A-4 in S. C. No. 206 of 1999. A-1 stood charged for an offence under Section 302 IPC, while A-2 to A-4 stood charged for an offence under Section 302 read with 34 IPC. A-1 to A-4 were also charged under Section 201 IPC. They were found guilty by the II Addl. Sessions Judge, Erode and A-1 was convicted under Section 302 IPC, while A-2 to a-4 were convicted under Section 302 read with 34 IPC and each one of them was awarded life imprisonment. All the accused were found guilty under Section 201 ipc and they were sentenced to undergo one year rigorous imprisonment. Aggrieved over the conviction and sentence, the appellants have brought forth these appeals.

(2.) THE short facts necessary for the disposal of these appeals could be stated thus :- A-4 is the wife of the deceased, Vasudevan. P. W. 1 is the son of the deceased and A-4. A-4 had illicit intimacy with Sivasamy and marisamy. THE same came to the knowledge of the deceased and there were quarrels among the spouses. THErefore, A-4 decided to do away with her husband with the help of the other three accused and, hence, a conspiracy was hatched by the appellants. Pursuant to the conspiracy, on a Saturday in the month of may 1997 at about 2. 00 a. m. when the deceased was sleeping outside the house and A-4 along with P. W. 1, aged ten years were lying inside the house, P. W. 1 woke up and he did not find his mother, A-4 and when he looked through the backdoor window he witnessed one of the accused closing the mouth and nose of the deceased, while another accused squeezed the testicles. THE remaining accused caught hold of the hands of the deceased. Within a short time the deceased died due to their acts. THEreafter, the other accused put the dead body in a gunny bag, tied it and buried it in a shallow grave near the house. A-1 to A-3 left the place of occurrence and A-4 came back after sometime. Though P. W. 1 had seen the occurrence, due to fear for his life, he did not speak to anybody about the occurrence.

(3.) ON receipt of the requisition, P. W. 8, the doctor attached to the Government Hospital , came over to the spot and conducted autopsy over the skeletal remains and issued Ex. P-12, the post-mortem certificate.