P. Somarajan, J.

1. These are the two appeals preferred by accused Nos. 1 and 2 respectively against the judgment in S.C. No. 499 of 2006 dated 9.12.2010 rendered by the Additional Sessions Judge II, Thiruvananthapuram.

2. The short facts of the case are as follows:

One Kamala Bai, the deceased in the case, met with a sad death in the hands of accused No. 1, who is her son and accused No. 2, who is her grandson, while she was residing along with her another son, PW-4, in Thekkinkara Puthen Veedu, Aruvottukonam, Karikamadakodu desom, Vellarada Village, Thiruvananthapuram. The alleged incident took place on 2.3.2004. On that day, at about 1.30 p.m. accused No. 2 along with his two friends came to the house of the deceased and had some chatting with her. They returned after a short while and on the way they met with accused No. 1. Then again they came back to the house of the deceased and accused Nos. 1 and 2 approached the deceased and had some discussions with her. Accused Nos. 1 & 2 demanded re-assignment of 6 cents of land earlier gifted to accused No. 1 and subsequently revoked by her. It has resulted in the alleged attack on the deceased by accused Nos. 1 and 2. Accused No. 1 hit on the head of the deceased with a cradle stick (MO1) and accused No. 2 caught hold of the throat of the deceased by his hands and fisted on her chest. Hearing the screaming of the deceased, PW-1 rushed to the kitchen and saw the entire incident through the window of kitchen. Thereon, PW-1 went out of the house to call PW-11 Jestus, another son of the deceased. In the meanwhile, accused Nos. 1 and 2 ran away from the house. On the way, accused No. 1 threw the MO1 cradle stick in a rubber estate. The deceased, after the attack, came out of the house, but fell on a nearby earthen road and vomited. PW-11, who came to the spot on getting information, took the deceased in an auto rickshaw and removed her to the hospital at Anappara and from there, as insisted by the doctors, to the Medical College Hospital. On the same day at about 1.20 a.m. (mistakenly written as 1.20 p.m. in the impugned judgment in paragraph 4) she succumbed to the injuries at the Medical College Hospital. On the next day, PW-3, the son of the deceased, went to the Vellarada Police Station and gave Ext.P1 First Information Statement, based on which, PW-13, the Assistant Sub Inspector of Vellarada Police Station, registered Ext.P1(a) First Information Report alleging offence under Sections 449 and 302 read with Section 34 of Indian Penal Code against accused Nos. 1 and 2 and their two friends. Subsequently, the two friends of the accused including PW-2 were deleted from the party array as there was no material to proceed against them in connection with the alleged incident.

3. After completion of investigation, PW-14 laid charge against accused Nos. 1 and 2 before the Judicial Magistrate of the First Class II, Neyyattinkara and it was duly committed by the learned Magistrate to the Sessions Court. After trial, the Sessions Court found accused No. 1 guilty of offence punishable under Sections 302 and 449 IPC and accused No. 2 guilty of offence punishable under Section 304 part II and Section 449 IPC. The first accused was convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for the offence under Section 302 of IPC and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years for the offence punishable under Section 449 of IPC. The second accused was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years for the offence punishable under Section 304 part II of IPC and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years for the offence punishable under Section 449 of IPC by the impugned judgment.

4. The learned Sessions Judge relied mainly on the oral testimony of PW-1, PW-4 and PW-11. PW-4 was aged only 12 years at the time of examination and 4½ years at the time of alleged incident. No attempt was made by the learned Sessions Judge to test the veracity of a minor witness, wh