MAGANTI BORRIAH Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These three Criminal Appeals are filed by all three accused individually against the same judgment in SC.No.143/2006 on the file of the X Addl.District & Sessions Judge (FTC), Guntur at Narasaraopet dated 25.06.2007, where under the Sessions Court acquitted all the three accused for the charge under Section 201 IPC. Under the same judgment, A1 was convicted for the charge under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to suffer life imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- in default to suffer simple imprisonment for two years. A1 was also convicted for the charge under Section 376 (2)(g) IPC and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/- in default to suffer simple imprisonment for one year. Under the same judgment, the Sessions Court also convicted Accused Nos.2 and 3 for the charge under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to suffer life imprisonment and to pay fine of Rs. 500/- each, in default to suffer simple imprisonment for one year each. A2 and A3 were also convicted for the charge under Section 376 (2)(g) IPC and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 7 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/- each, in default to suffer simple imprisonment for one year each. Aggrieved by the same, Accused Nos.1 to 3 filed these three Criminal Appeals individually.

(2.) The case of the prosecution, in brief, is that the deceased Mannem Lakhmi belongs to Brahmanpalli village, Piduguralla Mandal, Guntur District and her parents PWs 2 and 3 and brother PW 1 are eking out their livelihood by doing cultivation. On 19.06.2003 their she-buffalo was found missing. On 20.06.2003 the parents of the deceased went towards Tummalacheruvu and PW 1, the brother of the deceased and deceased went towards Pinnalli tank in search of the missing she-buffalo. The parents of the deceased PWs 2 and 3 returned back in the evening, but the deceased did not return and therefore, PW 1 and other people went in search of the deceased on 20th as well as 21st of June 2003, but they could not found the deceased anywhere. On 22.06.2003 at about 2 p.m. they came to know through one Yadava boy i.e. PW 4 of Gandhinagar that the dead body of the deceased was found lying in the Pinnelli tank. PW 4 found the dead body of the deceased in rubber plants when he went there for grazing his cattle. Then PW 1, along with other villagers went and saw the dead body of the deceased in Pinnelli tank. They also observed that the deceased was found dead and her clothes were removed and she was killed by tightening with cloth around her throat. Therefore, they have strong suspicion that somebody might have killed the deceased.

(3.) It is the case of the prosecution that on 20.06.2003 early hours at 6 a.m. the accused who are in habit of consuming liquor were found consuming liquor. The accused having noticed the deceased Mannem Lakshmi, took advantage of her loneliness and as an opportunity, in pursuance of their evil intention, the accused one after another raped the deceased forcibly. When the deceased fell down with groaning, the accused afraid that if the deceased is alive she would inform the matter in the village, and therefore, with an intention to kill her thereby to cause disappear the evidence of rape, the accused torn the petty coat from the person of the deceased and made strangulation around the neck and thereby killed the deceased. After commission of the offence, the accused took the silver anklets from the person of the deceased and decamped. PW 1 gave report to the police.