1. The appeal is directed against the conviction of the appellant u/S. 302 IPC. and sentence to undergo imprisonment for life. The appellant was tried on the charge that he committed murder by causing the death of his younger sister Santhamma by stabbing her with a knife. The occurrence happened inside their dwelling house on the night of 22/23-10-1981. The prosecution has alleged that the appellant did the act out of frustration on account of the resistance of the deceased in his attempt to satisfy his lust. The learned Sessions Judge has based the conviction on few circumstances which according to him are strong enough to form a complete chain and point to the guilt of the appellant.

2. The main contention advanced on behalf of the appellant is that there is no evidence to warrant the conviction. Having heard the learned counsel for the appellant and the learned Public Prosecutor, we are of the view that the circumstances relied on by the learned trial judge are neither incriminating nor complete and conclusive or unerringly pointing to the guilt of the appellant, and the conviction based on the circumstances is not justifiable.

3. The deceased Santhamma aged about 20 was an invalid with both legs congenially wasted and paralysed. The appellant her elder brother is also a disabled person, walking with the aid of stretches. They lived along with their mother Pw.1 and the younger brother Pw.6 in a but which consisted of a single room. The prosecution case is: The deceased along with the mother had been sleeping inside, while the appellant was sleeping in the cattle-shed close by and pw. 6 in the neighbouring house of pw. 2 on the fateful night. pw.1 was awakened at midnight on hearing the outcry of Santhamma that she was stabbed by the appellant pw.1 saw the appellant running out of the room dropping the knife. The alarming cry of pw.1 attracted pws. 2 and 6 who rushed to the spot to see Santhamma lying in a pool of blood. pw 2 noticed the appellant moving away along the paddy field. pw.1 lodged the first information at the police station, 22 kilometers away, the next morning at about 10 a.m. The crime was registered against the appellant on the basis of Ext. P7 statement. The post-mortem examination after the inquest revealed that Santhamma has sustained a fatal injury on her neck described thus: "A penetrating incised wound 2cros x 1/2 cm on the left side of neck just above and 3.5 cros lateral to the medial end of the left clavicle. The wound is oblique and the upper lateral end pointed and lower medial end shows contused margins. On deeper dissection, the wound is directed medially and forwards cutting the common carotid artery and adjacent structures." The appellant was arrested on 28-10-1981.

4. At the trial, the appellant denied his involvement in the crime. It had been suggested that he was falsely implicated at the instance of his rivals. pws.1 and 6 turned hostile to the prosecution and failed to support the prosecution case that pw.1 heard the outcry of the deceased or saw him escaping from the room leaving the knife there. She also denied having given Ext. P7 statement implicating the appellant. pw. 2 is the only witness who supports the prosecution in that she saw a person going away from the house of the deceased while she was proceeding to that place attracted by the outcries made by the inmates. She had also deposed that the appellant was not seen in the house at that time or thereafter. The learned Sessions Judge accepted the testimony of pw. 2 as proof of incriminating circumstances. The circumstances according to the learned judge are the conduct of the appellant keeping away from the house immediately after the occurrence, the evidence of pw. 2 that she was told by pw. I that the appellant stabbed the deceased. The further circumstance is that the appellant was absconding until arrest on 28-10-1981. The statement said to have been made by pw.1 in the presence of pw. 2 to the effect that the appella