(1) THE appellant has been convicted under Section 302 for having committed the murder of one Gowri Amma on 16-2-1991 by the learned Sessions Judge, Kasaragod, and has been sentenced to imprisonment for life. On appeal the said conviction and sentence has been affirmed by the High Court of Kerala and hence the present appeal. It transpires from the records of the case that the accused himself lodged information at 9.00 a.m. on 17-2- 1991 that Gowri Amma had died and on the basis of the said statement the police registered a case and proceeded with the investigation. In course of investigation the investigating agency came to the conclusion that it was not a case of unnatural death but of murder, and as such registered a case under Section 302 and proceeded with further investigation. On completion of investigation being satisfied that prima facie case had been established against the accused-appellant, charge-sheet was submitted and on being committed the accused stood his trial. The plea of the accused is one of denial. The fact that the deceased met a homicidal death on account of stabbing injury to the neck is established through the evidence of the doctor, PW 2, who con