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On receipt of intimation from the hospital, PW-20 -

Ch.Raghuramaiah, Head Constable, I-Town Police Station, Nellore and in- charge of out-post, Government Head Quarters Hospital, Nellore, recorded the statement of the deceased-Palani at 2.15 hours on 30.07.2011 under Ex.P.26 and forwarded the same to the Station House Officer, 4th Town P.S., Nellore. Thereafter PW-21, S.I. of Police, IV-Town Police Station, Nellore registered a case in Crime No.159 of 2011 under Section 307 of IPC and took up investigation. During the course of investigation, PW-21 visited the Government Hospital, Nellore and recorded the statement of deceased- Palani, PW-1 and PW-2. Thereafter, he visited the scene of offence in the presence of mediators PW-10 - Maramreddy Kumar and PW-11 - R.Ramakrishna Reddy, seized the Material Objects 1 to 4 under the cover of observation report (Ex.P.28) and examined the witnesses. On receipt of Hospital Intimation - Ex.P.19 about the admission of PW1- Vanaja and Ex.P.20 about the admission of the deceased-Palani by PW18 - Dr. S.Renuka Devi, Civil Assistant Surgeon, Government Hospital, Nellore, PW16-Special Judicial Magistrate of First Class for Railways, Nellore, recorded the (statement) dying declaration Ex.P21 of the deceased-Palani. While undergoing treatment, the deceased-Palani died in the hospital due to burns on 31.07.2011 at 04.20 P.M. In view of the same, PW-21 altered the Section of Law from Section 307 IPC to Section 302 of IPC. PW22 - Station House Officer, Nellore Town Circle took up the investigation, held inquest over the dead body of the deceased in the presence of Panchayatdars (PWs.10, 11 and 13), examined the witnesses, recorded their statements and sent the dead body of the deceased for post mortem examination. On 04.08.2011, PW-22 on information that accused was standing near Bezawada Gopala Reddy Statue Centre, Mini Bye-Pass Road, Nellore, went there, detained and interrogated him in the presence of mediators (PWs.14 and 15). The accused confessed in the presence of mediators that he committed the offence, then PW-22 arrested the accused and the confessional statement was recorded by way of mediators report and sent him for remand. PW17-Dr. Param Jyothi, Civil Assistant Surgeon, Government Hospital, Nellore, conducted post-mortem over the dead body of the deceased, issued post-mortem certificate (Ex.P.22) and opined that the deceased-Palani died due to hypovolemic shock due to extensive burns. PW18- Dr. S.Renuka Devi, Civil Assistant Surgeon, Government Hospital, Nellore, examined PW-1 and issued wound certificate (Ex.P.23) that the injuries suffered by PW-1 are simple in nature.

As is evident from the record, to substantiate its case, the prosecution heavily relied on the dying declarations i.e., Ex.P.21-statement/ Dying Declaration of the deceased-Palani recorded by the learned Magistrate (P.W.16) and Ex.P.26-statement/Dying Declaration of the deceased-Palani recorded by the Head Constable (PW-20) and the circumstantial evidence of PWs.1, 8, 12, 17, 18 to 20, other witnesses P.Ws.2 to 7, 13 to 16 turned hostile. Except PW-1 there is no other direct witness. Taking into consideration the dying declarations under Exs.P.21 and P.26 coupled with the evidence of PWs.1, 8 and 12, the trial Court held that the accused is guilty of the offences charged against him.

PW1-Vanaja was subjected to extensive cross-examination by the defence counsel, but nothing could be elicited regarding occurrence of the incident and the evidence in examination in-chief remained unshaken. A suggestion was made to PW1-Vanaja that she had illegal contacts with her neighbouring persons and therefore there are disputes between PW1- Vanaja and the deceased and with a view to threaten PW-1, the deceased- Palani poured petrol himself as he could not bear the insult. Except a suggestion that it is a case of attempt to suicide by the deceased-Palani, nothing could be elicited from PW1-Vanaja in this regard in deviation to her earlier statement. No suggestion was made to the PW1-Vanaja that she suffered burn injuries while trying to put off flames on the body of the deceased, as he attempted to commit suicide by pouring petrol himself. It's worth mentioning here that, no suggestion is made to PW1-wife of the deceased that there is no illicit relationship between PW-1 and the accused which is the motive for commission of offence according to the prosecution and thus the same remained uncontroverted. Further her evidence corroborates the statements (Dying Declarations) of the deceased-Palani, recorded as Ex.P.26 by PW-20 and Ex.P.21 by the learned Magistrate-PW16 that the accused poured petrol and set fire to the deceased-Palani.

In the present case, the evidence of PW-1 as noticed above has remained unshaken except for minor variations and her evidence is corroborated by the statements of the other witnesses PW-8, PW-12. A cumulative reading of the evidence of PW-1, PW8 and PW12 clearly supports the case of the prosecution that the motive for the accused for pouring petrol and set fire to the deceased-Palani is the illicit relationship between the accused and PW-1.

In the present case, the deceased gave dying declaration/statement Ex.P.26 to PW-20 and another dying declaration/statement Ex.P.21 to PW-16 stating that the accused developed illegal contact with his wife-PW-1 and since one year he and his wife warned the accused not to come to their house and keeping the same in mind, the accused poured petrol while they were sleeping and lit fire. PW-1 corroborated the said statement of the deceased. PW-8 though related, but an independent witness who is not aware of the disputes between the accused and the deceased-Palani, deposed in her evidence that the deceased-Palani informed that the accused poured petrol on him and set fire to him for the reason that there were disputes in between deceased-Palani and the accused on account of illegal intimacy between the accused and PW1 and on account of the same several times they quarrelled. Thus, the independent witness PW-8 also corroborated the evidence of PW-1, to establish the motive to fix the culpability of the accused. The evidence of PW-8 makes it clear that she is neither aware of the illicit relationship between the accused and PW-1, nor the family affairs of the deceased-Palani prior to the death of the deceased- Palani. Thus, the evidence of PW8 that the deceased-Palani informed her that the accused poured petrol on him and set fire to them on account of illegal intimacy between the accused and PW1-Vanaja, gains credence. Further no suggestion is made to her that out of the enmity or ill-will, she deposed against the accused and in support of prosecution case. Except her relation with the deceased, nothing is elicited in the lengthy cross- examination, which is either contrary or inconsistent with her evidence in examination-in-chief. No doubt PW8 is related witness, but she is not an interested witness, as she will not gain any advantage in the litigation. Her evidence was unshaken, trustworthy and inspires confidence of this Court. Further, the statement/dying declaration of the deceased-Palani recorded by PW-20 and PW-16 is supported by independent witness PW-8 and thus supports the case of prosecution to establish motive which plays a significant role in cases based on circumstantial evidence.