Raja Vijayaraghavan V., J.

1. The appellant is the accused in S.C. No. 66 of 2008 on the file of the Court of Additional Sessions Judge-I, Thiruvananthapuram. He stands convicted under Section 302 of the IPC and has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life.

2. Before adverting to the contentions raised by the appellant, the case of the prosecution can be briefly stated as follows:

"2(i). The deceased Santha is the daughter of PW1, Mary. Santha had fallen in love with the appellant and they were living together without entering into any form of marriage. Out of the said wedlock, two girls were born to the couple, the eldest being Salini who was residing in a poor home at Cheruvarakonam near Parassala and the younger one being Malini who was staying with Santha.

2(ii). The appellant was a Cable layer by profession and was an infrequent visitor to the house. He is an alcoholic and there used to be frequent fights with Santha when she refused to part with money which he required for satisfying his drinking habits. While so, on 21.07.2006, when PW2-Malini had come back from School, she had occasion to see the appellant and the deceased Santha quarreling with each oth