- (1.) The appellant is the sole accused in S.C. No. 109 of 2010 (Crime No. 369 of 2010) on the file of the learned Additional District and Sessions Judge, Theni at Periyakulam. The appellant has been charged for the offences under Sections 302 and 404 I.P.C. The trial Court, by Judgment dated 24.07.2012, convicted him for the offence under Section 302 I.P.C and sentenced him to undergo Life Imprisonment and also imposed fine of Rs. 1,000/- and, in default, to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for three months and also, convicted him for the offence under Section 404 I.P.C and sentenced him to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for one year and also imposed fine of Rs. 500/- and, in default, to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for one month. Challenging the conviction Judgment delivered in S.C. No. 109 of 2010, the appellant/accused in Crime No. 369 of 2010 is before this Court with this present appeal and he has been enlarged on bail as per the order dated 21.01.2013 passed by this Court. The brief case of the prosecution is as follows; P.W.1 Jeyalakshmi has four daughters and one son and deceased Manonmani is the fourth daughter and the Saminathan (P.W.8) is the husband of the deceased and the deceased has one son, namely, Ashok Kumar (P.W.6), aged 16 years and the appellant is the friend of the said Ashok Kumar and after three years from the date of her marriage, she used to live separately with her son, and her husband has gone to Kerala for doing work, and thereafter, the deceased has run a Beauty Parlour in the house of the P.W.1. The deceased's husband used to give money, to maintain her family, and on 05.05.2010 at 16 hours, the deceased and the appellant have gone to Kerala, to get money from her husband and also, met him and at that time, the husband of the deceased has beaten the deceased and the appellant and scolded the deceased for coming to him with the appellant and they have returned to Uthamapalayam and knocked the door of the P.W.1's house on 06.05.2010 at 1.30 hours and the mother of the deceased (P.W1) has also scolded them and not admitted them into the house. Hence, the deceased has tortured the appellant to take her to the house of the appellant and due to all incidents, the appellant has the motive to kill the deceased and on the same day, the accused has pulled down the deceased and knocked her head on the floor on two times and due to the injuries, the deceased has died and the appellant has taken her IA sovereigns of ear stud from her ear. Hence, according to the prosecution, the appellant/accused in Crime No. 369 of 2010, is liable to be punished under Sections 302 and 404 I.P.C. 1.1. In order to prove the case of the prosecution, the prosecution has examined 23 witnesses as P.W.1 to P.W.23 and also marked 11 exhibits as Ex. P.1 to Ex. P.11 and also Material Objects as M.O.1 to M.O.12. 1.2. P.W.1 Jeyalakshmi has stated that she knows the accused and the deceased Manonmani is her fourth daughter and the name of the husband of the Manonmani is Saminathan and they have got one son by named Ashok Kumar, aged 16 years. The deceased Manonmani has gone along with the accused to Eratrupettai at Kerala on 05.05.2010 to meet the husband of the deceased Manonmani, namely, P.W8 Saminathan and on 06.05.2010, both the deceased and the accused have come to her house at the mid night and the P.W.1 has scolded them and send them, without allowing the deceased Manonmani to come inside of her house. Thereafter, on the next day, after the message received from her grand son, on 07.05.2010, afternoon, at 3.00 p.m., she has seen the dead body of the deceased, nearer to the Bank at Uthamapalayam and thereafter, she has lodged the complaint as per Ex. P.1 to the police and the P.W.2 Kumudha, namely, her grand daughter has written the said complaint and also she has identified the XA sovereign of the deceased ear stud as M.O.1. Further, the P.W.2 Kumudha has stated that the P.W.1 is her grand mother and the deceased Manonmani has gone to Kerala, after informing all the persons in the house and returned back in the mid night on 06.05.2010 along with the accused and the P.W.1 has scolded them and send them back and she has written the Ex. P.1 complaint, as per the dictation given by the P.W.1 and the P.W.1 has lodged the said complaint to the police. 1.3. Further, the P.W.3 Kesavan has stated that the P.W.1 is his grand mother and he has seen the dead body of the deceased Manonmani near M.D.C.C. Bank, at Uthamapalayam on 07.05.2010 and thereafter, he has informed about the death of the deceased to his grandmother. Further, the P.W.4 Mahalakshmi has stated that the P.W.1 is her mother and the deceased is her sister and on 05.05.2010, the deceased has gone to meet her husband, along with the accused to Kerala and they have returned back in the mid night on 06.05.2010 and the P.W.1 has scolded them and send them back. Further, the P.W.6 Ashok Kumar has stated that the deceased Manonmani is his mother and on 05.05.2010, the deceased has gone to meet his father, working at Eratrupettai, at Kerala and the deceased has gone along with the accused also and on 07.05.2010, he has seen the dead body of the deceased mother near M.D.C.C Bank, Uthamapalayam and the P.W.1 and P.W.2 have gone to the police station, for lodging the Ex. P.1 complaint. Further, the P.W.7 Azhagumalai has stated that he is the relative of the deceased and he has seen the dead body of the deceased Manonmani near M.D.C.C. Bank, Uthamapalayam on 07.05.2010. 1.4. Further, the P.W.8 Saminathan has stated that he is husband of the deceased Manonmani and he is working at Eratrupettai, at Kerala and the P.W.8 and the deceased have got one son, namely, P.W.6 Ashok Kumar and they have lived as husband and wife for three years only and thereafter, they have lived separately for the past seven years and however, he has used to give money for the monthly expenses to the deceased and on 06.05.2010, the deceased have come to Eratrupettai along with the accused and hence, he has scolded them and thereafter, on 07.05.2010, he has heard the death of his wife, namely, the deceased Manonmani and he came to Uthamapalayam and the seen the dead body of the deceased. Further, the P.W.11 Maniraja has stated that the deceased is his relative and he and one Nanildeva have signed in the Observation Magazar and Rough Sketch as per Ex. P.2 and Ex. P.10 and also they have signed in the Athatchi of Ex. P.3, for the recovery of M.O.2 to M.O.5. 1.5. Further, the P.W.12 Ganesan has stated that he is working as Village Assistant and he and the P.W.15 Thiru. Deivendran, Village Administrative Officer have signed in the admissible portion of the confession statement of Ex. P.4 and also they have signed in the Athatchi as per Ex. P.5, for the recovery of M.O.1 1/4 sovereigns of Gold stud and also, M.O.6 and M.O.7, namely, the dresses of the accused. Further, the P.W.13 Babu has stated that as per the direction of the police, he has taken photos of the dead body of the deceased. Further, the P.W.14 Thiru. Manoharan, Thasildar has stated that the P.W.15 Village Administrative Officer and the Village Assistant and also the P.W.14 have signed in the said confession statement and he has issued the certificate as per Ex. P.6. Further, the P.W.15 Thiru. Deivendran, Village Administrative Officer has stated that he and the P.W.12 Ganesan have signed in the admissible portion of the confession statement as per Ex. P.4 and also they have signed in the Athatchi as per Ex. P.5, for the recovery of M.O.1 ear stud, M.O.8 (series) bus tickets 2 Nos. , and M.O.6 and M.O.7, namely, the dresses of the accused. Further, P.W.5, P.W.9 and P.W.10 have been treated as hostile witnesses, as they have not supported the case of the prosecution. 1.6. Further, the P.W.16 Thiru. Manikandan, Police Constable(Grade-I) has stated that he has handed over the dead body of the deceased Manonmani to the relatives, after the completion of the Postmortem and also he has handed over the M.O. Nos. 9 to 12, namely, the dresses of the deceased to the Inspector of Police. Further, the P.W.17 Viswanathan has stated that he has served as conductor in Dindigul Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation and he cannot specifically say, regarding the details of the M.O.8(series) tickets issued to various passengers on 06.05.2010 and he is unable to say as to whether the M.O.8(series) tickets 2 Nos. have been issued by himself. Further, the P.W.18 Tmt. Jothi, has stated that on 19.04.2010 she has worked as Sub Inspector of Police at All Women Police Station, Uthamapalayam and on 19.04.2010, one Soniya, wife of accused Kubendran has lodged the complaint and she has registered the case in Crime No. 97/10 and she has instructed the accused and his wife to live together peacefully. Further, the P.W.19 Thiru. Ibreem, Head Constable has stated that he has received the Ex. P.7 F.I.R on 07.05.2010 and submitted to the learned Judicial Magistrate, Bodinayakanur at 21 hours on the same day. 1.7. Further, the P.W.20 Thiru. Selvaraj has stated that on 07.05.2010, he has worked as Sub Inspector of Police, Uthamapalayam and he has received the Ex. P.1 complaint from the P.W.1 and registered a case in Crime No. 369 of 2010 under Section 302 I.P.C., and prepared the F.I.R as per Ex. P.7 and submitted the said F.I.R to the learned Judicial Magistrate, Bodinayakanur. Further, the P.W.21 Thiru. Udhayaku-mar, Head Clerk of Judicial Magistrate Court, Uthamapalayam has stated that on 11.06.2010, he has received the Material Objects from the police. Further, the P.W.22 Dr. Juliana Jeyanthi has stated that on 08.05.2010, she has conducted Postmortem on the dead body of the deceased Manonmani and she has issued Postmortem Certificate as per Ex. P. 8. Further, the P.W.23 Thiru. Seemaisamy has stated that on 07.05.2010, he has worked as Inspector of Police, Uthamapalayam and he has received the Ex. P.7, F.I.R in the present case and he has prepared Observation Magazar and Rough Sketch as per Ex. P.2 and Ex. P.10 respectively and also he has recovered the M.O.2 to M.O.5 at the place of occurrence in the Athatchi as per Ex. P.3 and also he has prepared Inquest Report as per Ex. P.11. Further, he has recorded the confession statement from the accused and also he has recovered the M.O.1 1/4 sovereign of gold stud, M.O.6 and M.O.7, namely, the dresses of the accused and the M.O.8(series) tickets 2 Nos. in the Athatchi as per Ex. P.5 and he has recorded the statement from the P.W.22 Postmortem Doctor and after the completion of the investigation, he has filed the final report.
(2.) On completion of the evidences on the side of the prosecution, the accused has been questioned under Section 313(1)(b) of Cr.P.C. as to the incriminating circumstances mentioned in the evidences of prosecution witnesses and he has stated that he is an innocent person and he is not involved in the case.
(3.) Having considered all the above materials on record, the trial Court has convicted the appellant/accused and sentenced him as mentioned in the beginning of this Judgment and challenging the said conviction and sentence, the appellant has come forward with the present appeal.;