BHASKARAN, J.

Sri Mohammed Dwara Rawther Ismail, the accused in Sessions Case No. 35 of 1981, on the file of the Sessions Court. Trivandrum, is the appellant in this criminal appeal. He was prosecuted for offences punishable under sections 302 and 201 of the I.P.C. alleging that he had committed murder in respect of his wife Safia between 9 p.m. and 10.30 p.m. on 17-9-1980 from the house in which they resided in Kilimanoor, and that he attempted to destroy the evidence concerning the offence. The trial court found him guilty under sections 302 and 201 I.P.C., convicted him thereunder and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life under S. 302 I.P.C. and rigorous imprisonment for one year under S. 201 I.P.C., the sentences to run concurrently. Aggrieved by this conviction and sentence this appeal has been preferred.

2. The prosecution case was that the accused and Safia, whom he had married on 23-7-1978, were living in a house in Kilimanoor with their son Feroz who was aged about 2 years. Safia, a double graduate, was employed as a teacher in a Government school in Kilimanoor the accused was an overseer in the Kerala State Electricity Board. Till about one month prio