C. Praveen Kumar, J.

1. Accused Nos.1 and 2 in Sessions Case No.524 of 2011 on the file of the II Additional Sessions Judge, Nalgonda, Suryapet, are the appellants herein. They were tried for the offences punishable under Sections 302 and 201 IPC. By judgment, dated 06.12.2012, the learned Additional Sessions Judge, convicted both the accused under the said counts and sentenced them to suffer ‘imprisonment for life’ for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC and directed them to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- each, in default to suffer simple imprisonment for a period of three months and also sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years for the offence punishable under Section 201 IPC and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each, in default to suffer simple imprisonment for a period of one month. Both the sentences were directed to run concurrently.

2. The gravaman of the charges against the accused is that on the intervening night of 1st/2nd day of September, 2009 at 1.30 a.m., in the house of accused No.2 at Chivvemla Village, Nalgonda District, the accused caused the death of one Daida Vijaya (hereinafter referred to as “the deceased”) by strangulating her to a wooden beam and thereafter caused disappearance of the evidence by moving the body to the outskirts of Vallabhapuram Village.

3. The facts, as disclosed, in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses, are as under:

i. PW.3 is the mother, PW.4 is the sister and PW.5 is the brother of the deceased. PW.9 is the maternal uncle of the deceased and the other witnesses are resident of Gunjaloor Village. The deceased was a married woman, having three children. On 04.06.2008, the husband of the deceased, by name Srinivas, died accidentally due to fall from a toddy tree. After the death of Srinivas, PWs.3 and 4 brought the deceased along with her children to their house and since then she has been staying with them. About four or five months prior to her death, she developed illicit intimacy with accused No.1. On coming to know about the same, PWs.3 and 4 warned her not to continue the relationship, as she is having three children. But, neither accused No.1 nor the deceased paid any heed to their advice. As they suspected that the land admeasuring Ac.4.00, which stood in the name of the deceased, may be alienated, they approached PW.8, who is an elder person, and PW.9, who is the father-in-law of the deceased, requesting them to transfer the land, which is standing in the name of the deceased, in favour of her minor children, as the deceased was moving with other persons in the village, including accused No.1. Pursuant thereto, PWs.8 and 9, along with Laxmaiah, PW.3 and the deceased went to Sub-Registrar Office, Suryapet, and transferred the said land in favour of her minor children. It is said that about 15 days prior to the date of tracing the body, the deceased left the house along with the pass books of the land in question. It is said that from that day onwards, the deceased and accused No.1 were not seen in the village.

ii. On 04.09.2009, in the morning hours, while PW.2 was proceeding to Durajpally from his thanda and when he reached SRSP Canal, he noticed bad smell emanating from the said place. He also noticed a dead body of a female person lying there and blood was oozing from her ear. Immediately thereafter, he went to Khasimpet village and informed PW.1, the Sarpanch of the village, about seeing a dead body near SRSP Canal. On the basis of the information given by PW.2, PW.1 went to the said place and saw the dead body. He noticed the body of the deceased swelling and blood oozing from the nose and mouth. Pursuant thereto, he went to the police station and lodged a report before PW.9-the Sub-Inspector of Police. Ex.P1 is the report. Basing on the said report, a case in Crime No.160 of 2009 came to be registered for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC against un-known persons. Ex.P13 is the first information report. PW.19 handed over th