Bhavadasan, J,

This case discloses the story of a good student, well behaved boy, liked by his teachers and companions, and who had considerable expectations about him, transforming into a villain and landing in prison. If true, this is a typical instance where a teenage boy exposed suddenly to the outside world got caught in the mesh of luxurious life and drugs, and ruined himself. His parents had toiled hard to fund his studies. They borrowed money from people and people generously contributed. Nobody noticed the transformation that was going on in him, until it culminated in a shocking incident on 16.6.2000.

2. 16.6.2000 morning turned out to be a horrifying one to the people of Neeleswaram Kara, Kalady Village. The story goes thus:

The deceased, the injured, P.Ws. 2 and 4 reside in the same house. P.Ws. 5 and 6 are neighbours. P.W.6 is the sister of P.W.5. Though P.W.6 was married, she was staying with her brother since her mother was ill at the relevant time. In fact the accused and the witnesses knew each other very well. It would appear that the family of the deceased used to extend financial aid to the accused, to continue his nursing course in Karnataka, since q