SIVA SAMUDRUDU Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Sole accused in Sessions Case No.26 of 1998, which was decided by the First Additional Sessions Judge, Krishna is the appellant herein. The accused-appellant was tried under two charges. The first charge against the accused-appellant was under Section 302 I.P.C. The learned Judge found him guilty under the said charge and, therefore, convicted him to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default, simple imprisonment for twelve weeks. The second charge against the accused-appellant was under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and the learned Judge found him guilty under the said charge and, therefore, convicted him and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.500.00 in default, simple imprisonment for eight weeks. The substantial sentences imposed against the accused-appellant were made to run concurrently.

(2.) The substance of the charge against the accused was that on 11-10-1997 at about 11.00 a.m. the accused caused the death of the deceased intentionally by hacking her indiscriminately on the back of her neck with a knife and also harassed her by suspecting her character.

(3.) The prosecution story can be briefly narrated as follows: P.Ws.l to 4 and P.W.6 are residents of Padamatipalern. P.W.5 and P.W.7 are the residents of Kuppanapudi. The accused got married to a girl of Alapadu but discarded her within three months and later during 1983 he married the deceased Madhavi and they were blessed with a daughter and a son. The accused ill-treated the deceased suspecting her character. Having fed up with his attitude, she went away to her parents' house several times. As usual, the deceased went to her parents' house four months prior to the incident and the accused brought her back promising that he would not ill-treat her any longer.