PUBLIC PROSECUTOR Vs. YERRA ARJUNA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The respondent was charged under Ss. 302 and 394. I.P.C. He was not found guilty for the said offences, but was found guilty for the offence under S. 411, I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo R.I. for three years and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000.00 in default to suffer R.I. for one year. This appeal is filed by the State against the acquittal of the respondent for the offence under Ss. 302 and 394, I.P.C.

(2.) The facts in brief, are : Two months before the incident on account of disputes between the accused and the deceased, the accused was fined Rs. 300.00 in the Panchayat. On 21-1-1995, in the morning hours when the deceased was in the outskirts of the village, in the fields in Plantain tope of one J. Krishna, the accused cut her with a knife on her neck with an intention to kill her and robbed her ornaments from her body. He cut away her two ear lobes, right nostril and removed her gold ornaments. The deceased died instantaneously. The accused had been absconding and he was arrested on 25-1-95. In pursuance of his confession the properties robbed from the deceased were recovered at the instance of the respondent at a nearby cattle shed.

(3.) The prosecution seeks to let in evidence as regards the motive for the accused to commit murder of the deceased. It seeks to rely upon the evidence of P.Ws. 1 and 2. P.W. 1 only deposed regarding theft committed by the accused earlier to the date of offence and the imposition of fine of Rs. 300.00 in the Panchayat held. P. W. 2 corroborates the said evidence of P.W. 1. Considering the evidence of P.Ws. 1 and 2, the learned Sessions Judge held that there was no material to prove the motive for the accused to commit the murder.