JUDGMENT :

C.Praveen Kumar, J.

1. The sole accused in Sessions Case No. 403 of 2013 on the file of Sessions Judge, Guntur, is the appellant herein. He was tried for an offence punishable under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code [‘I.P.C.’], for causing the death of one Tanikonda Venkayamma [‘Deceased’] with a pestle on her head on 15.02.2012. By its Judgment, dated 28.03.2014, the learned Sessions Judge convicted the accused and sentenced him to suffer imprisonment for life for the offence punishable under Section 302 I.P.C.

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

(i) The accused is the husband, PW1 and PW2 are the daughters, and PW3 is the son, of the deceased, PW4 is the brother-in-law of the accused, PW5 is the sister of the deceased, and PW6 is a resident of the same area.

(ii) The marriage between the accused and deceased took place about 25 years ago. The accused was working as Lorry Cleaner. PW1 and PW2 along with family members used to live in Tadepalli. It is said that during the said period, the accused used to consume alcohol and demand money from the deceased apart from beating and abusing her. About eight years ago, the deceas