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II  Charge

2. The above-said ghastly incident was said to have taken place on 15.8.2003 within the jurisdiction of Yercaud Police Station. This horrifying issue, stimulated the Superintendent of Police, Salem District, P.W.31 to undertake investigation by himself and to register an FIR in Crime No.350 of 2003, initially for an offence punishable under Section 304-B, IPC, which was subsequently altered, pursuant to which the appellant was tried and thereafter, convicted and sentenced to undergo (i) seven years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs.5,000/-, in default, on year rigorous imprisonment for having committed the offence of rape on the deceased mother under Section 376, IPC; (ii) life imprisonment with fine of Rs.10,000/-, in default, one year rigorous imprisonment for having murdered the deceased mother and 13 months old girl baby under Section 302 (2 counts) IPC; (iii) two years imprisonment with fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default, one month rigorous imprisonment for having poured kerosene on the mother and 13 months old baby and set them on fire in order to screen the offence under Section 302 read with 201 (2 counts), IPC; and (iv) seven years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs.2,000/- in default, one year rigorous imprisonment for having caused criminal intimidation to P.W.2 under Section 506(2), IPC.

III  The case of the prosecution

3. The prosecution case, as unfolded from the evidence, runs thus:

3.1. P.W.1, Chandrabose is the brother of the deceased. He deposed that the deceased was married to one Thiruselvam and she was living with her in-laws and brother-in-law as a joint family; after one year, the deceased gave birth to a female child; she was tortured to bring money from her parents to take care of her baby; after five/six months, she was tortured to bring money to redeem her jewels which were kept by them for the house expenses and therefore, she went to another brother's house at Yercaud and stayed there for 15 days; the father-in-law took her back assuring that it would not happen in future; two months prior to the date of occurrence, she called him over phone and stated that she was asked by her husband to bring Rs.10,000/- to live separately; she was repeatedly asking for the money since he could not arrange it immediately; on the date of occurrence, at about 2 pm, she called him over phone and enquired about him and asked him to bring money immediately; since she disconnected the phone immediately, he tried to contact her, but he could not; at once, he tried his elder brother and spoke to his sister-in-law P.W.3; he informed P.W.3 about the call by the deceased and asked P.W.3 to visit the place of the deceased and to inform him; at about 3.30 pm, his elder brother called him and informed that the deceased and her baby died due to burn injuries; he went to Yercaud at about 7 pm; he went and lodged a complaint Ex.P1 at Yercaud Police Station; after one week, it was published in the newspaper that the deceased had not committed suicide, but it was a murder; at that time, he was informed by P.W.3 that the deceased had stated to P.W.3 that the conduct of the accused towards her was not good and asked her not to inform her brothers to avoid consequences; his elder brother slapped P.W.3 for not informing him about the accused; on seeing the news article, he got a doubt as to why the deceased disconnected the call immediately on the date of occurrence; he informed the same to P.Ws.30 and 31 and also gave a copy of the telephone bill issued in the name of his owner, Ex.P2.

3.3. As per the deposition of Mariyayee, P.W.3, sister-in-law of the deceased, there was a dowry demand by the family members of the deceased; after the deceased gave birth to a female child, she was tortured to bring money from her parents to take care of her baby; after five/six months, she was tortured to bring money to redeem her jewels which were kept by them for the house expenses and therefore, she went to another brother's house at Yercaud and stayed there for 15 days; the father-in-law took her back assuring that it would not happen in future; three months thereafter, she came to her house and stated that she was asked by her husband to bring Rs.10,000/- to live separately; the deceased was sent stating that they would arrange money after sometime; 15 days prior to the date of occurrence, the deceased came to her house and informed about the ill-behaviour of the accused towards her and asked her not to reveal the same to her brother; on the date of occurrence, at about 2.30 pm, P.W.1 called from Mettupalayam and informed her that the deceased called him and her family members were torturing her to bring money and asked him to bring money within one hour, otherwise, she would die along with her child; P.W.1 asked her to go to the place of the deceased and to bring her; when she tried the telephone number of the deceased, she was informed that the deceased and her child were dead; immediately on arrival of her husband, she informed him, who, in turn informed P.W.1; P.W.1 informed his brother not to take any action till his arrival; P.W.1 arrived at about 7 pm and thereafter, a complaint was lodged on the file of Yercaud Police Station; two weeks after the date of occurrence, she came to know from the newspaper that the deceased had not committed suicide, but it was a murder; two months thereafter, when she was enquired, she had stated all the details, including the ill-behaviour of the accused with the deceased; at that time only, she informed about the conduct of the accused towards the deceased to the members of the family; she was slapped by her husband for not telling the same earlier, who stated that he would have saved the deceased; that time, P.W.1 raised a doubt as to the voice of the deceased when she called on the date of occurrence.

3.14. As requested by the Judicial Magistrate V, Salem, in Ex.P.11, to give a computer print-out relating to telephone No.222612 of Yercaud Telephone Exchange for the month of August 2003, P.W.15, Selladurai, an employee of Yercaud Telephone Exchange, had issued Ex.P.12 report stating that the said telephone belongs to Thiruselvam and the same was working in a good condition between 5.8.2003 and 31.8.2003. Ex.P13 is the computerised bill for the telephone No.222612 of Yercaud Telephone Exchange.