HEMANTHA ALIAS HEMANTHAKUMAR Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE judgment and order of conviction passed by the Fast Track Court, Hunsur, in S.C.No.76/2010, dated 10th March 2011, is called in question in this appeal by the convicted accused. The accused was tried and convicted for the offences punishable under sections 302 and 201 of IPC.

(2.) CASE of the prosecution in brief is that deceased Mahadevi is the wife of accused/appellant herein; their marriage was performed about 12 years prior to the incident; there were differences of opinion between the husband and wife and consequently, they were living apart; both were coolies by profession; since the accused neglected to maintain the victim, she had filed a petition praying for maintenance before the jurisdictional Court, which came be to be allowed on 14.10.2010 awarding maintenance of Rs.750/ - per month in favour of the victim; part of the maintenance amount (Rs.3,000/ -) was paid by the accused; however, the remaining amount was not paid; in order to avoid liability of paying maintenance to his wife Mahadevi, the accused followed her to market area of Kushalnagara at 7.00 P.M., on 19.1.2010 and took her away on the pretext of talking with her privately and committed the murder of Mahadevi by strangulating her neck with red kerchief/towel and by piercing knife into her neck with force; with an intention to destroy evidence against him, he had hidden the dead body of deceased Mahadevi beneath a rock in a stream of water near land of P.W.27.

(3.) IT seems the father of deceased -P.W.1 had lodged missing complaint on 20th January 2010, before the police station which came to be registered in crime No.5/2010. Dead body of the deceased was found in the water of the stream with injury on the neck on 22.1.2010. On seeing the dead body, P.W.1 lodged another complaint at 4.15 P.M. of 22.1.2010 before PSI(P.W.30) attached to Bylukuppe Police station; he in turn registered crime No.6/2010 based on complaint -Ex.P1 lodged by P.W.1.