JUDGMENT :

C. Praveen Kumar, J.

1. The sole accused in Sessions Case No. 19/S/2012 is the appellant herein. He was tried for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC and under Sections 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. By its Judgment, dated 19.05.2014, the learned Special Sessions Judge-cum-IV Additional District Judge, Guntur, convicted the accused under both the counts and sentenced him to suffer imprisonment for life and also to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/-, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for a period of three months. Challenging the same, the present appeal came to be filed.

2. The gravamen of the charge against the accused is that, on 20.11.2011 at about 10.30 AM, at 14th lane of SRKT Colony, Narasaraopet, the accused caused the death of Mogili Bullemmayi, d/o. Venkateswarlu [‘deceased’] by cutting her throat with a blade.

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

(i)PW1 & PW3 are the sisters of the deceased, while PW2 is mother of the deceased. PW4 is the Uncle of the deceased. All the family members were residing in 15th line in Narasaraopet Town. The deceased married one Subba