- (1.)THIS appeal challenges the judgment dated 17. 8. 2009 passed by the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Villupuram in S. C. No. 61 of 2008, whereby the sole accused stood charged and found guilty for the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and awarded life imprisonment.
(2.)THE short facts necessary for the disposal of the case can be stated thus:-
(i) P. W. 2 is the wife of the deceased Mayakannan. The accused/appellant is the brother of the deceased. The father of the appellant has two wives. The accused married the daughter of one Unnamala who is the daughter of the father of the accused through the first wife. The property belonging to the family was in possession of the said Unnamalai. The deceased was demanding to give his share in 80 cents of land, which was in possession of the said Unnamalai, but the accused/appellant did not do the same and thus the relationship of the brothers viz. accused/appellant and the deceased was strained.

(ii) On 6. 5. 2005, at about 9. 00 p. m. , P. W. 2, her son P. W. 4 and P. W. 3 along with her deceased husband were sitting in front of the house of one Anandhayi and chatting. At that time, the accused, who came there, armed with knife, attacked the deceased on different parts of the body and in the said transaction, the accused also sustained some simple injuries. When a disgusting cry was raised, the accused ran away from the place of occurrence.

(iii) P. W. 2 met the Village Administrative Officer P. W. 1, the next day morning and gave a statement, which was recorded by P. W. 1 and the same is marked as Ex. P1. Thereafter, P. W. 1 proceeded to Villupuram Taluk police station and gave a complaint to P. W. 10 Sub Inspector of Police and the same is marked as Ex. P2. On the strength of Exs. P1 and P2, the case was registered in Crime No. 519 of 2005 for the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The first information report Ex. P12 was despatched to the Court.

(iv) The Inspector of Police took up the investigation, proceeded to the spot and prepared Observation mahazar Ex. P3 and also rough sketch Ex. P13. He conducted inquest on the dead body in the presence of witnesses and the inquest report is marked as Ex. P14. The dead body was sent to the Government Hospital, Villupuram for post-mortem.

(v) P. W. 7 Doctor attached to Government Hospital conducted autopsy on the dead body and gave Ex. P10 post-mortem Certificate wherein he has opined that the death would have caused due to shock and haemorrhage and death would have caused 36 to 40 hours prior to autopsy.

(vi) The accused was arrested on 8. 5. 2005 at 12. 30 p. m. and the accused gave confession statement in the presence of witnesses and the admissible portion of the statement is marked as Ex. P5. Pursuant to the confession statement, he produced M. O. 5 knife and the same was recovered under the cover of Mahazar Ex. P6. Thereafter, the accused was sent to the Government Hospital, Villupuram along with a memo since he sustained injuries.

(vii) P. W. 7 Doctor examined the accused and gave treatment for the injuries sustained by him and the accident register is marked as Ex. P11. The accused was sent for judicial remand. On completion of investigation, final report is filed.

(3.)THE case was committed to the Court of Sessions. Necessary charges were framed against the accused. In order to substantiate its case, the prosecution examined P. Ws. 1 to 10 and relied on Exs. P1 to 15 and also relied on M. Os. 1 to 6. On completion of examination of witnesses on the side of the prosecution, when the accused was questioned under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code, he denied them as false. No defence witness was examined on the side of the accused.