- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) Challenge in this appeal is to the judgment rendered by a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court accepting the reference made under Section 366 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (in short the 'Cr.P.C.') and confirming death sentence awarded to the appellants in respect of offences punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short 'IPC') and sentence of 10 years and fine of Rs.25, 000/- with default stipulation for the offence punishable under Section 376 read with Section 34 Indian Penal Code, 1860 awarded by the learned District and Sessions Judge, Chamarajanagara.
(3.) Background facts which led to the trial of the accused persons are essentially as follows: Jayamma, (PW.1) is the resident of Badrenahalli village in Kollegal Taluk. She resided with her husband, and children Raju (PW.2), Nagarajamma (PW.10) and Shivamma (hereinafter referred to as the 'deceased'). Both the accused are residents of the same village. The accused-aged about 20 and 22 years respectively were sexually obsessed youngsters. Few months prior to the incident, relating to the present appeal they attempted to commit rape on Lakkamma [daughter of Puttegowda (PW.7)], but were unsuccessful. For that act, they were admonished. Later, they attempted to commit rape on PW.10 (daughter of PW.1). PW.10 was also successful in escaping from their clutches. Though in both the incidents, the aggrieved persons wanted to lodge police complaints, against the accused, at the instance of village elders and family members of these accused, instead of lodging criminal cases, only Panchayath of village elders was called on each occasion and the accused were directed to mend their ways. But this warning had no effect on them. Emboldened by escape from punishment in those two incidents, they committed rape on the deceased a young girl of hardly 18 years and to avoid detection, committed heinous and brutal act of her murder. On the morning of 15.10.2001, deceased Shivamma went to the family land situated near her house to dump manure. As she did not return, PW.1 went in search of her after some time. When Shivamma was not seen in the land, PW.1 began to call her by name. Suspecting some untoward incident, when PW.1 went near the spot, she saw the body of the deceased lying on the ground with clothes disarrayed. Noticing that Shivamma was dead, PW.1 raised hue and cry and went towards the village calling people for help. Attracted by her cries, her son PW.2 and other villagers including Chikkiregowda (PW.3) came to the spot and on learning about the incident, especially the fact that the accused had been seen earlier at the spot where the dead body was found and had on detection run away, they went in search of the accused. In the meantime, Narayana Gowda (PW.5) the brother of PW.1 (maternal uncle of the deceased) who also resides in the same village came to the house of PW.1 and on suspecting the role of the accused in the rape and murder of Shivamma, wrote down the statement of PW.1 and after taking her L.T.I., took the same to the jurisdictional police at Rampur police station. M.K. AIi, the S.H.O. of Rampur police station (PW.20) on receipt of the information of the crime, after accepting the written complaint as per Ex.P.1, registered a case in Crime No.86/01 for the offences punishable u/s 376, 302 both read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against these two accused and took up investigation.;