LOGAMMAL ALIAS LOGA, Vs. STATE BY INSPECTOR OF POLICE, VANIAMBADI CIRCLE, (CRIME NO. 24/82) VANIAMBADI RURAL POLICE STATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ACCUSED 1 and 2 in Sessions Case No. 28 of 1983 on the file of the Additional Sessions Judge of North Arcot at Vellore are the appellants in Criminal Appeal No. 838 of 1983, while the juvenile accused Logammal alias Loga in Sessions Case No. 29 of 1983 on the file of the Same Court of Session is the appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 837 of 1983 As both these cases arises out of the same occurrence and the witnesses examined, the exhibits filed and the material objects marked in both the cases are the same, we are rendering a common judgment in both these appeals.

(2.) THE appellants in C.A.838 of 1983 took their trial under two charges, viz., that on 12.3.1982 at about 9 p.m. at Kandhapodikaran Thope in Venkatapuram village within the limits of Vaniambadi Rural Police Station, the first accused caused death of Shanmugam by strangulating his neck and that A2, in the course of the lame transaction, in furtherance of the common intention of A1 in committing the murder of Shanmugam, squeezed the testicles of the deceased. The charge levelled against the juvenile accused (appellant in C.A.837 of 1983) is that the juvenile accused abetted the commission of the offence of murder of Shanmugam by the abovesaid adult accused, by holding the legs of deceased Shanmugham while the other two accused committed the offence of murder by strangulating and squeezing the testicles of the deceased. To substantiate the above charges in both the cases, the prosecution examined P.Ws.1 to 10, filed Exts. P1 to P26 and marked M.Os.1 to 8. The brief facts of the case, as disclosed by the oral and documentary evidence, can be stated as follows: The first adult accused Kannammal is the wife of deceased Shanmugham. The second adult accused Perumal is the younger brother of Kannammal. The juvenile accused Logammal alias Loga is the third daughter of the accused Kannammal and the deceased. The deceased Shanmugam and Kannammal have three daughters of whom the 1st daughter Baby has been given marriage and she is residing with her husband. The second daughter's name is Vasantha and the third daughter is the juvenile accused. The second and the third daughters have come of age and they were married at the time of the occurrence. The deceased was keeping a concubine by name Muniammal and was residing with her at Vaniambadi for some period. The son -in -law of the deceased and another went to Vaniambadi and brought the deceased to Venkatapuram where his family was residing and sent Muniammal to her mother's house. Deceased Shanmugam who was having a vicious character, made overtures towards his daughter Vasantha and attempted to hive sexual relationship with her. Kannammal, on being aggrieved at the conduct of her husband, sent her daughter Vasantha to the house of her brother. Four days before this occurrence, deceased Shanmugam had been to Vaniambadi to sell Jaggery. But he did not return home. It was learnt by the members of the deceased's family that the deceased had gone in search of Muniammal, his concubine, who was in Mittalam at that time. The accused Kannammal complained about this to P.W. 2. P.W. 2, who had been to Mittalam, met deceased Shanmugham and reprimanded him. On the night of the occurrence, the deceased in a drunken mood went to his house. A wordy quarrel ensued between the accused Kannammal and the deceased during which the accused Kannammal found fault with the conduct of her husband and reprimanded him saying that it was not fair on the part of the deceased to keep a concubine and live an irresponsible life without caring for the family. Deceased Shanmugam got angry and beat Kannammal and made overtures towards hit daughter Logammal alias Loga, the juvenile accused, inviting her to take bed and have sexual intercourse with him. The juvenile accused resented this and complained this matter to her maternal uncle, viz., the second adult accused Perumal, who was in a nearby tope, and brought him to the house. Perumal also scolded the deceased. Meanwhile, a surcharged tension prevailed, resulting in a quarrel between Kannammal and Shanmugam. Kannammal pushed down Shanmugam, sat on his chest and strangulated him. At that time, the juvenile accused held the legs of the deceased. The accused Perumal squeezed the testicles of the deceased. The deceased Shanmugam died. Then the accused tied a rope around the neck of the deceased and hanged his body from the roof of the cattle shed.

(3.) BY about 12 midnight the accused Kannammal and the juvenile accused went to the house of P.W. 2 and informed him that the deceased had committed suicide by hanging. P.W. 2, accompanied by one Chinnathambi Gounder, went to the cattle shed and found deceased Shanmugam hanging by a rope. Then, all the accused untied the rope and laid the dead body of Shanmugam on a coir cot. The accused Kannammal burnt the rope. When P.W. 2 asked her as to why she was doing so, Kannammal replied that such a rope should not be kept in the house lest there would be some more similar occurrences. Then P.W. 2 went to his house. When P.W. 2 went to the house of the accused on the next morning at 9 p.m. (on the 13th) a crowd of the villagers had collected there. P.W. 2 found certain injuries on the forehead, eye -brow and cheek of the deceased. On that day, the brother of the deceased by name Bheeman, examined as P.W. 3, on receipt of the information about the death of his brother, came to the scene village at about 4 p.m. By about 9:30 p.m., the other brothers of the deceased arrived at the scene house. All the brothers of the deceased, on seeing the injuries on the person of the deceased, picked up a quarrel with the accused persons, saying that it was not a case of suicide but one of homicide, and charged the accused that they had beaten him to death. P.W. 2 took the accused Kannammal aside and enquired her. Kannammal made a clean breast of the whole occurrence, confessing that she strangulated the deceased by sitting on his chest while the juvenile accused held the legs of the deceased and the accused Perumal squeezed the testicles of the deceased, on being provoked by the utterance of the deceased saying that be wanted to have sexual intercourse with the Juvenile accused Loga who was in the prime of youth, and that thereafter they hanged the dead body in order to give an appearance that it was a case of suicide. She added further that she suppressed the real fact out of fear. Immediately P.W. 2 directed P.W. 3 to go to the police station and lay a complaint. At that time it was 12 midnight.