1. The case of the prosecution, in brief, is as follows:

The deceased Narasimhaiah had two houses in Bodabandenahalli village. One in the village and another in his farm land wherein he had constructed the Ashram. On the date of incident, deceased Narasimhaiah was remained in his farm house to sleep there and his wife Mallakka was sleeping in the house situated in the village. It is further case of the prosecution that on earlier occasion, the deceased had given evidence against the accused in a case that was pending between the accused and one Sripada Hegde. On 28.11.2009 the complainant Mallakka left the farm house at 6.00 p.m. and her husband Narasimhaiah stayed back in the farm house. On the next day at about 8.00 a.m., when the complainant (wife of the deceased) had been to the farm house, her husband was not found there. She made an effort to search her husband at nearby places. In the meantime, there was a spread of news to the effect that a dead body was floating in the lake called Rajanakatte which is located half kilometer away from the farm house of the deceased. The complainant rushed to the said lake and found that the dead body was that of her husband and the