MALAYAPPAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The first accused appellant stands convicted and sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment for five years for the offence under Section 304 of Part II of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) The brief facts are: Kammangadu is a village lying within the jurisdiction of Alangudi Police Station. It consists of three parts, namely, Melappatti, Maduppatti and Keezhappatti. The appellant first accused and his sister second accused (acquitted) reside in Melappatti. P.Ws. 1 to 3 and the deceased Vellamangan reside in Nadupatti. P.W. 4 resides in Keezhapatti. The accused and the deceased own lands in the village adjacent to each other. P.Ws. 1, 2 and 4 are also owing lands in the vicinity of the lands belonging to the deceased.

(3.) In the morning of 6-8-84, the deceased and his son P.W. 3 started ploughing their lands. At about 9 a.m. they took food in their field brought by Anjalai, wife of the deceased Thereafter, they continued ploughing the lands. While they were So ploughing, accused 1 and 2 came there. Accused 1 questioned the deceased as to how he could destroy the ridges of his field and damage the crops. The deceased replied that he had destroyed the ridges of his field and also the crops standing in his field, but, it was otherwise. There arose a wordy altercation between accused I and the deceased and the wordy altercation resulted in pushing of each other. While they were pushing each other, accused 2 caught hold of the hands of the deceased and Accused 1 took the aruval from his nearby plantain tope and inflicted a cut on the right side of the head of the deceased. On receipt of the cut, the victim fell down with profuse bleeding. Before the infliction of the cut, P.W.3 prevented accused I from inflicting the cut on the deceased, but accused I pushed him down and subsequently inflicted the cut on the deceased. P.Ws. 1, 2 and 4, who were available in their fields came rushing to the scene and in the meantime, accused No.1 and 2 ran away from there, taking away the weapon. Thereafter the victim was put in a bullock cart and taken to the hospital While they were near the Pudukkottai- Thanjavur Road, a taxi came there and in the taxi, the victim was put an subsequently transported to the Government Headquarter Hospital at Pudukkottai. The doctor P.W. 12 treated him for the injuries. Exhibit P.W.13 is the copy of the accident register. Exhibit P. 9 is the copy of the accident intimation sent to police.