C. PRAVEEN KUMAR, J.

1. Challenging the order of acquittal passed in S.C. No. 122 of 2011 on the file of the II Additional Sessions Judge, Kadapa at Proddatur, the present appeal came to be filed by one Gandhamsetty Prasad, who was examined as P.W. 1, under Section 372 Cr.P.C.

2. Originally the respondents herein, who are accused 1 to 4 in S.C. No. 122 of 2011, were tried for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 120-B and 380 or 412 IPC. The substance of the charge against them was that on 01.09.2010 at about 11.00 a.m., the accused are said to have caused the death of one Vaddi Subba Laxmumma (hereinafter referred to as "deceased") by strangulating her with a Navvaru (plastic rope) and binding wire thereby causing instantaneous death. Thereafter the accused are said to have committed theft of the gold ornaments of the deceased.

3. The facts, as culled out from the evidence of the prosecution witnesses, are as under:-

On the date of incident i.e., on 01.09.2010 at about 8.00 a.m., A-1 who was working as a maid servant in the house of the deceased, came to the house of the deceased, sprinkled water, laid "Muggu" in front of the house of the deceased and then went away. Again at about 10.00 a.m., A-1 along with three other male persons came to the house of the deceased. Out of them, A-1 along with one male person entered the house of the deceased, while two other male persons stood outside the house. On the next day, the neighbours and relatives came to know about the death of the deceased. The deceased is the senior maternal aunt of P.W. 1, while P.W. 2 is the husband of the deceased. P.W. 5 is a relative of the deceased. The other material witnesses are neighbours of the deceased. At the time of the incident, P.W. 2 who is the husband of the deceased was in Central Prison, Kadapa undergoing imprisonment in a criminal case. On coming to know that some strangers have caused the death of the deceased, P.W. 1 proceeded to the house of the deceased and noticed the dead body lying in the kitchen. He also noticed a ligature mark on the neck of the deceased. The almirahs were opened and the ornaments from the said almirahs were found missing. The information about the incident was also sent to P.W. 2, who was permitted to see the deceased with escort.

4. On 02.09.2010, P.W. 1 proceeded to the police station and lodged a report with the Inspector of Police, Proddatur 1 Town Police. On 03.09.2010 the predecessor of P.W. 10 continued with the investigation in this case by holding an inquest over the dead body in the presence of panchayatdars. Ex. P-2 is the inquest report. During inquest, he seized the wearing apparel of the deceased, which are placed on record as M.Os. 7 to 9. He also seized blood stained stone and controlled stone, which are marked as M.Os. 10 and 11. At that time, he also prepared a rough sketch of the scene of offence, which is marked as Ex. P-10. After completion of inquest, the dead body of the deceased was sent to Government hospital, Proddatur for autopsy. P.W. 8-the Assistant Surgeon at government Hospital, Proddatur, who conducted post mortem examination, found external and internal injuries over the dead body and reserved his final opinion pending APFSL report. He preserved the viscera and the hyoid bone of the deceased for expert opinion. On receipt of the expert opinion (Ex. P-5) from the RIMS Hospital, Kadapa and the report from the APFSL(Ex. P-6), he opined that the deceased would have died due to "asphyxia, due to respiratory failure due to pressure on the front side of the neck due to consumption of any chemical poison." The time of death was said to be about 48 to 52 hours prior to the post mortem examination. The initial opinion of the death was marked as Ex. P-7, while the final opinion which was given after receipt of Exs. P-5 and P-6 was marked as Ex. P-8. On 08.09.2010, on receipt of credible information, the predecessor of P.W. 10 left the police station at 9.30 a.m., along with pancha