THOTA CHENNIAH Vs. THE STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Between 2 and 3 p.m. in the afternoon of December 5, 1961, a young woman by name Suryanarayanamma was done to death when she was alone in the house bearing No. 189-3-RT in Vijayanagar Colony, Hyderabad. It was a murder for gain and the culprit decamped with a number of valuable gold ornaments worth about Rs. 4000/-, some of which were on the person of Suryanarayamma (hereinafter called the deceased) and some in a steel trunk kept locked in the bedroom of the house. Suspicion fastened on one Thota Chenniah (hereafter called the accused), who was then an officiating Head Constable, C.I.D. Special Branch, and eventually he was charged with the murder, tried by the Principal Sessions Judge, Hyderabad Sessions Divisions at Secunderabad, in Sessions Case No. 4 of 1962, convicted and sentenced to death under Section 302 India Penal Code. The learned Sessions Judge has submitted the proceedings to this Court under Section 374 Criminal Procedure Code for confirmation of the sentence of death and the accused has preferred an appeal against his conviction and sentence.

(2.) The salient facts of the case as unfolded by the evidence adduced by the prosecution, may conveniently be set out in chronological order. At the time of her death, the deceased was aged about twenty-five. Her husband was one Ayyappa Raju (P.W. 4), who was an Assistant Director in the Bureau of Statistics and Economics, Hyderabad. The deceased was devoted to her husband and was of a kind and pious disposition. They had no children and the husband and wife were living all by themselves in a house in Vijayanagar Colony bearing No. 189-3-RT. They appear to have been in fairly affluent circumstance and the deceased had gold jewellery of considerable value. It is important to note that according to P.W. 4, the deceased habitually wore on her person a number of ornaments including eight pairs of gold bangles of different patterns. These bangles were exhibited at the trial as M.Os. 15, 16, 17 and 18. [Description of Jewellery-Omitted.]

(3.) The other ornaments which the deceased was in the habit of wearing on her person were M.O. 3, a 'tali' consisting of fourteen pieces of gold of different shapes and seventeen black beads described as "nallapusala thavalam" ; M.O. 5, a gold chain of rope design with two round gold pusthes and two black beads; M.O. 6, a gold chain; M.O. 7, a pair of sold ear-tops with a red stone in the center and six white stones round it; M.O. 8, a pair of silver toe-rings; and M.O. 12, a gold nose stud with white stones. The remaining gold jewels, which were apparently worn by the deceased on special occasions were put in a jewels-box (M.O. 19) and secured in a steel trunk which was kept in the bedroom. Those jewels were M.Os. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 48, 49. [Description of jewellery omitted.]