M.SATHYANARAYANAN, J. - (1.)THE appellant is the accused in S.C. NO.78/09 on the file of the Principal Sessions Judge, Namakkal. She was charged for the alleged commission of the offence punishable u/s 302 r/w 34 IPC. THE trial court, vide judgment dated 31st Aug., 2010, convicted and sentenced her to undergo life imprisonment together with a fine of Rs.5,000/= with a default sentence of two months. THE trial court further ordered to set off the period of incarceration already undergone by appellant u/s 482 Cr.P.C. Aggrieved by the said conviction and sentence passed by the trial court, the appellant has preferred this appeal.
(2.)THE facts in a nutshell are as follows :- THE deceased, Ganesan, is the husband of the accused, Amirthavalli. THE case of the prosecution is that the deceased was addicted to alcohol and used to have illicit relationship with other women and enraged over the same, the appellant, along with her elder son, namely, Manju @ Akilarasan (juvenile accused), by tying the hands and legs of the deceased, while he was asleep under the influence of alcohol, on the night of 13th April, 2009 / early morning hours on 14th April, 2009, poured petrol over the deceased Ganesan and set him on fire. THE deceased, on account of the injuries sustained by him, died at abut 9.45 a.m. on 15th April, 2009 at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Hospital at Salem.
P.W.9 was the Special Sub-Inspector of Police attached to Namagiripettai Police Station. While he was on duty, he received intimation from Rasipuram Police Station at about 7.00 a.m. on 14th April, 2009, about the occurrence and he immediately went to the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Hospital at Salem and recorded the statement of Ganesan, the deceased, who was admitted as an in-patient and, thereafter, came back to the police station and registered a case in Crime No.206/09 at abut 11.00 a.m. u/s 307 IPC. The statement given by the deceased was marked as Ex.P-11, subject to objection raised on behalf of the accused. The printed FIR was marked as Ex.P-10. P.W.9, on registration of the FIR, dispatched copies of the same along with the complaint to the jurisdictional Magistrate and copies were also forwarded to his superior officials. P.W.9, thereafter, proceeded to the scene of occurrence at Kuttaikarai Colony, Vadugam Village and prepared the rough sketch, Ex.P-12. P.W.9, in the presence of P.W.4 and another prepared the observation mahazar, Ex.P-3 and recorded the statement of some of the witnesses and he placed the case file before the Inspector of Police.

P.W.10 was the Inspector of Police of Namagiripettai Police Station, who on receipt of the case files from P.W.9 took up further investigation. On receipt of the death intimation, Ex.P-9, on 15th April, 2009 at about 9.45 a.m., he altered the section from one under Section 307 IPC to 302 IPC and submitted a report, Ex.P-13, to the court of Judicial Magistrate, Rasipuram.

(3.)P.W.10 took up further investigation and in the presence of witnesses conducted inquest on the body of the deceased between 1200 hours and 1300 hours on 15th April, 2009 and prepared the inquest report, Ex.P-14. P.W.10 proceeded to the scene of occurrence and recorded the statement of P.W.9 and since he repeated the events that took place after the registration of FIR, P.W.10 did not record any separate statement from others. P.W.10, through secret investigation, got information with regard to the truthfulness of the events that took place on the night hours on 13/14th April, 2009 and fixed the appellant, the wife of the deceased and Manju @ Akilarasan, the son of the deceased as the perpetrators of the crime. P.W.10 arrested both the accused in the presence of P.W.7 and another and each of them voluntarily gave a confession statement. The admissible portion of the confession statement given by the accused, Amirthavalli is marked as Ex.P-7, based on which the matchbox, M.O.8, used to set the deceased on fire was recovered from below the roof of the house of the accused. Pursuant to the admissible portion of the confession statement given by the juvenile accused, Manju @ Akilarasan, the son of the deceased, a petrol can was recovered. P.W.10 also recovered M.O.s 1 to 7 and the material objects were sent to the jurisdictional court in Form-95, which is marked as Ex.P-16. The accused were sent to judicial custody.
P.W.10 made a requisition to conduct post-mortem on the body of the deceased. On receipt of the requisition, P.W.6, the Tutor of Forensic Medicine attached to the Salem Government Hospital, conducted post-mortem on the body of the deceased Ganesan at about 3.10 p.m. on 15th April, 2009. P.W.6 noted the following physical features on the body of the deceased :-

"Injuries :- 1. Dermo Epidermal burns with reddish zone of inflammation seen over scalp, face, both ears, front, sides and back of neck, upper part of front and whole of back of chest and abdomen, both shoulders and both upper limbs, both axilla, both lower limbs, external genitalia and both gluteal region. Eyebrows, eyelashes, scalp hair, axillary hair and pubic hair-signed. (Ante mortem burns). 2. Rope mark contusions with serrated margins seen over both wrists and both ankles encircling the entire circumference of 2 to 3 cms. Width (Ante mortem). Other Findings :- 1. O/D Head : Scalp intact, cranial valut intact, Brain C/S congested. Base of skull intact. 2. O/D Neck : Neck structures normal. Hyoid bone : Intact. Soot particles seen in the congested mucosa of trachea. 3. O/D Thorax : No ribs fracture. Lungs C/S congested and edematous. Heart : Normal in size. Chambers contained fluid blood. Myocardium Normal. Coronaries Patent. 4. O/D Abdomen : Stomach : 65 ml of yellowish green coloured fluid with no specific smell. Mucosa C/S congested. Liver, Spleen and both Kidneys C/S congested. Bladder Empty. Genitalia no other injures made out. Pelvis and Spinal column intact."
P.W.6 opined that the deceased died due to the effects of burns about 5 to 6 hours prior to autopsy.