MACHA RAJAM Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The sole accused in S.C. No.333 of 1993 on the file of the Court of Session, Adilabad is the appellant before us. He was convicted by the learned Sessions Judge for an offence under Section 302 IPC and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and also to pay fine of Rs.500/- in default to suffer R.I for six months.

(2.) The case of the prosecution, in brief, is that the accused suspected that the death of his elder brother was due to sorcery practiced by the deceased Chilkam Posham In order to wreak vengeance, it was alleged, at about 8.00 A.M., on 21-2-1993, when the deceased was sleeping on a cot in front of his house as he was not feeling well, the accused attacked him with an axe, M.0.5. He dealt a blow on the head of the deceased and when he was about to strike another blow, P.W. 1, the wife of the deceased, who was sweeping the floor, came to the rescue of her husband, shouting for help. Pushing her down on the ground, the acused managed to escape from the scene with the axe. On hearing the shouts of P.W.1, P.Ws.2 to 4 gathered: P.W.2 is the nephew of the deceased, P.W.3, is the son of the deceased and P.W.4 is the wife of P.W.3. P.W.1.narrated the incident to her daughter-in-law, P.W.4. The injured-Posh am was taken to the police station at Jaipur, at a distance of 13 kilometres, where a report, Ex.P.l was lodged with P.W 8, the Head Constable, who registered the same as Crime No.23/93 under Section 307 IPC and sent the injured- Posham to the Government Hospital, Mancherial where he succumbed to injuries at 4.30 PM. After the death of Posham, the section in the FIR was altered from Section 307 to 302 IPC; Ex.P.8 is the alteration memo pursuant to which investigation was taken up by the Inspector of Police, P.W.10 on 22-2-1993. Inquest on the body of the deceased was held between 6.00 and 9.30 A.M., in the present of P.W.9; Ex.P.9 is the inquest report. On a requisition, Ex.P.5, post-mortem on the body was conducted by P.W.7, Civil Assistant Surgeon, Government Hospital, Mancherial on 22-2- 1993 at 11.00 A.M. Ex.P.6 is the post-mortem certificate. In the opinion of the doctor, the deceased appeared to have died 19 hours prior to the post-mortem examination and the cause of death was shock and heamorrhage due to head injury. The accused was taken into custody on 27-2-1993 at 1.00 P.M. Pursuant to a statement made by the accused, the weapon of offence, M.O.5 - axe - was seized.

(3.) The prosecution, in support of its case, has examined 10 witnesses, of whom P.W.1 was the direct witness to the incident. P.Ws.2 to 4 rushed to the spot immediately after the incident had taken place. The Head Constable, who registered the crime on the basis of Ex P 1 - the Hirst information report, was exaimned as P.W 8 The Investigation Officcr was examined as P.W.10 and the doetor. who conducted posl-mortem examination and issued the postmortem certificate Ex.P.6 was examined as P.W.7. The plea of the accused was one of total denial. The learned Sessions Judge believing the testimony of P W. I. the eye witness, found the accused guiltx of the offence under Section 302 IPC