SULIAN ALIAS CHINNATHAMBI Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellants herein, who are Accused nos. 1 and 2 in Sessions Case No. 250 of 2003 on the file of the additional Sessions Judge, Chidambaram, stand convicted and sentenced as follows: a. 1-Sulian alias Chinnathambi was convicted for the offences under Sections 324 and 302 IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous Imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/-, in default, to undergo rigorous Imprisonment for three months for the offence under Section 324 IPC; to undergo life imprisonment and to pay a fine of rs. 1000/-, in default, to undergo Rigorous imprisonment for one year for the offence under Section 302 IPC and the sentences were ordered to run concurrently. A. 2-Sakila was convicted for the offence under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 1000/-, in default, to undergo rigorous Imprisonment for one year. Aggrieved by the said conviction and sentence, the accused Nos. 1 and 2 have preferred this appeal.

(2.) THE case of the prosecution, in brief, is as follows: p. W. 1-Alamelu is the wife of P. W. 2-Thiagarajan. Accused Nos. 1 and 2 are husband and wife. A. 3-Madhiazhagan is the brother of A. 1-Sulian alias chinnathambi. P. Ws. 1 and 2 are the neighbours of Accused Nos. 1 and 2. There was dispute between them with regard to fencing. There had been panchayat also in respect of it. A. 2-Sakila was searching for onion basket for past two days prior to the occurrence day. On 10. 12. 2002, at about 6 p. m. , when she found the onion basket in front of the house of P. W. 1-Alamelu, she questioned P. W. 1-Alamelu as to how it was available in front of her house. P. W. 1-Alamelu told A. 2-Sakila that if her plastic basket was available, she could take it to her house. A. 2-Sakila scolded P. W. 1-Alamelu saying that she had committed theft, in turn, P. W. 1-Alamelu also abused her. At about 7. 30 pm, A. 1-Sulian alias Chinnathambi returned to his house and A. 2-Sakila informed him about the occurrence. Then, A. l-Sulian alias Chinnathambi also started abusing P. W. 1-Alamelu. At that time, the deceased-Thottiyathan, who was junior paternal uncle of P. W. 2-Thiagarajan, was sitting in front of the house. P. W. 2-Thiagarajan, the husband of P. W. 1-Alamelu and p. W. 3-Thangasamy and P. W. 4-Devendiran, who are the brothers of p. W. 2-Thiagarajan, also returned home and P. W. 1-Alamelu informed them about what had happened. A. 3-Madhiazhagan came there at that time and went to the house of A. 1-Sulian alias Chinnathambi. A. 1-Sulian alias chinnathambi came out of the house with M. O. 1-Crowbar and attacked the deceased- Thottiyathan on his head and A. 2-Sakila attacked the deceased-Thottiyathan on his chest with a brick. P. W. 4-Devendiran tried to catch-hold of A. 1-Sulian alias Chinnathambi and at that time, A. 3-Madhiazhagan brought M. O. 2-Aruval from the house. and attacked P. W. 4-Devendiran with it on the head, right hand thumb, right leg and A. 1-Sulian alias chinnathambi attacked P. W. 3-Thangasamy with m. O. 1-crowbar on his head and left eyebrow. As P. W. 2-Thiagarajan tried to prevent it, A. 3-Madhiazhagan attacked him with M. O. 2-Aruval on his head, left side of chest and left leg. After attacking them, all the three accused ran away from the scene of occurrence. The occurrence was witnessed by P. Ws. 1 to 8. P. Ws. 9 and 10 took the deceased in TVS-50 vehicle to p. W. 16-Dr,natarajan, who was available in that village. At about 8. 45 pm, p. W. 16-Dr. Natarajan on seeing thottiyathan, declared him dead. The body of the deceased-Thottiyathan was brought back to house and laid down. P. Ws. 1, 3 and 4 went to the Police station by walk as no bus facility was available at that time and P. W. 1-Alamelu gave complaint to P. W. 27-Sub inspector Lakshmanan of kattumannarkoil Police Station and on receiving Ex. P1-complaint on 11. 12. 2002 at 2 a. m. , he registered a case in Crime no. 623 of 2002 for the offences under sections 302 and 324 IPC and prepared Ex. P13-Flrst Information report. P. W. 28-lnspector Jayapal, on receiving the information, went to the police Station at 9. 30 am on 11. 12. 2002 and received the copy of Ex. P13-FIR. He went to the scene of occurrence at 10. 30 a. m. and prepared Ex. P2-Observation mahazar and Ex. P14-Rough sketch, in the presence of witnesses p. W. 14-Lakshmanan and P. 15-Ravi from the scene of occurrence, he recovered M. O. 3-plastic basket and m. O. 4-broken brick weighing about 1 kg under Exs. P3 and P4-mahazars respectively in the presence of same witnesses. He held inquest from 12. 15 p. m. to 3 pm on the body of the deceased- Thottiyathan in the presence of panchayatars and prepared Ex. P15-Inquest Report. He gave Ex. P5-requisition for conducting post-mortem on the body of the deceased-Thottiyathan. P. W. 17-Dr. Veeranarayanan received ex. P5-requisition on 11. 12. 2002 at 5. 05 pm and conducted Autopsy on the body of the deceased-Thottiyathan on 12. 12. 2002 at 11 a. m. and found the following-"external Injuries: 1) Contusion about 3 inches x 2 inches behind the left. Ear pinna-on which 1 inch x 1 inch abrasion seen. 2) Abrasion about inch x 1/2 inch on the left Pinna dorsal aspect. 3) Contusion about 2 inch x 2 inch on the left chest below and around the left nipple. 4) Contusion about 2 inch x 2 inch over the occipital area of scalp. 5) Abrasion about 1 inch x inch on the left upper scrotum. All injuries are anti-mortem. Internal Examination: thorax: On opening the left side chest exposing the contusion--Subcutaneous and intramuscular haematoma present -underlying 5th and 6th ribs at left side were broken. On opening the thoracic cavity left side lung multiple laceration seen and about 1 litre of blood clots and fluids were present. Right lungs - congested - Heart -Empty. C/s Pale. Hyoid bone intact. Stomach: Partially digested food particle seen about 100 gms. Pelvis -No fracture. Spinal Column - Normal. Bladder - empty. Head: on opening the skull there is subcutaneous haematoma over the occipital area. The occipital bone fractured about 1 inch horizontally and 1/2 inch in oblique direction. About 100 gms of clotted blood in skull cavity -membrane intact. Brain - Normal C/s Pale. " he also opined that the deceased would have died of shock and. heamorrhage due to Head injury and left lung injury about 40 hrs to 42 hrs prior to Post-mortem examination. Ex. P6 is the Post-mortem Certificate issued by him. P. Ws. 2, 3 and 4 were sent to the hospital on Police memo and P. W. 17-Dr. Veeranarayanan examined P. W. 2-Thiagarajan at about 6. 10 pm on 11. 12. 2002 and noted the following injuries: "1) Lacerated wound about 1 cm x cm x cm over the right side scalp -occipital area - dark red scab wound. 2) Contusion about 3 cm x 2 cm over the left elbow joint - lateral aspect - dark colour. 3) Abrasion about 1 cm x 1 cm over the right knee joint - dark colour scab wound. " he gave an opinion that the injuries are simple in nature and issued Ex. P9-Accident Register. P. W. 17-Dr. Veeranarayanan examined p. W. 3-Thangasamy at about 6 pm on 11. 12. 2002 and found the following injuries: "1) Lacerated wound about 1 cm x cm x cm on the left side scalp - parietal area - covered dark coloured scab. 2) Contusion about 2 cm x 2 cm on the left forehead above left eye brows - on which abrasion about cm x cm with dark brown scab wound. " ex. P8 is the Accident Register issued by him. P. W. 17-Dr. Veeranarayanan examined p. W. 4-Devendiran at about 6. 30 p. m. on 11. 12. 2002 and noted the following injuries: "1) Lacerated wound about 1 cm x cm x cm over the scalp Occipital area/dark colour scab around the wound. 2) Contusion about 3 cm x 2 cm over the right leg - front - dark colour. 3) Contusion about 2 cm x 1 cm over the right hand thumb - dorsum - dark red colour. " he also issued Ex. P10-Accident Register. P. W. 28-Inspector Jayapal, who was in search of the accused, arrested both the accused No. 1-Sulian alias Chinnathambi and Accused No. 2-Sakila on 11. 12. 2002 itself at 8. 15 p. m. at Vadavaru neur echampoondi village and recorded the confession statement given by A. 1-Sulian alias chinnathambi in the presence of P. W. 18-Gunasekaran and another. Ex. P11 is the admissible portion of it. In pursuance of the confession, he recovered M. O. 1-Crowbar and M. O. 2-Aruval from a bush near the bridge under Ex. P12-mahazar in the p resence of the same witnesses. Then, the accused Nos. 1 and 2 were brought to the police Station. A. 1-Sulian alias Chinnathambi gave a complaint and case was registered 11 pm in Crime No. 624/2002 for the offences under Sections 324 and 323 IPC and both the accused were sent to Chidambaram government Hospital through Police memo. As the accused Nos. 1 and 2 were admitted as in-patient in the hospital, requisition was given to the Magistrate to remand them. P. W. 29-Inspector Sankaran took up the further investigation and he investigated the case in both the crime numbers. On 13. 12. 2002, he examined P. W. 16-Dr. Natarajan and others. On 15. 12. 2002, he arrested A. 3-Madhiazhagan at 6. 30 a. m. near bridge at Kollidam Railway Colony and subjected him to judicial remand. On 18. 12. 2002, he examined P. W. 17-Dr. Veeranarayanan and recorded his statement. On completion of the investigation, he filed final report on 25. 5. 2003 against the accused. .

(3.) TO prove the case, the prosecution examined P. Ws. 1 to 29; marked Exs. P. 1 to p. 16 and produced M. Os. 1 to 5.