Judgment - Naik, J.

1. These two cases arise out of the same judgment and therefore can be disposed of by a common judgment. The case for the prosecution may be briefly outlined as follows : In the village of Minnakukkal in Salem district in Madras State there lived an old poor widow called Perumai. She had five daughters and in the present case we are concerned with the third daughter by name Palaniammal alias Panniakkal alias Pappal, whose sudden death under mysterious circumstances has led to the instant prosecution. Palaniammal was married to one Kuppanna gounder of Minnakkal about seven years back. About three years prior to the incident, she had separated from her husband and had come to stay with her mother Perumai. It appears that some arrangement was arrived at between Palaniammal and her husband Kuppanna in which the latter had agreed to pay her maintenance. Kuppanna had married a second wife, presumably after giving divorce to Palaniammal. It further appears that Kuppanna had stopped paying the amount of maintenance to Palaniammal as per the agreement with the result that Palaniammal was driven to file a suit in the Court of the District Munsiff at Salem for maintenance.

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