JUDGMENT :

K. VINOD CHANDRAN, J.

1. When public opinion influences an investigation its very course gets diverted with exasperating results. A tribal woman was murdered and the suspect was her confidant who was from the same community. The community rose in arms against the implication of their own and the Police removed him from the array of suspects and proceeded against the two other suspects from a different community with a higher caste status thus alleging offences not only under the Indian Penal Code but also under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

2. The accused were found guilty in the trial wherein PW-1 to PW-39 were examined, Ext.P1 to Ext.P49 series were marked and MO1 to MO25 objects were produced. The defence marked 21 contradictions from the 161 statements of the various witnesses as D1 to D21. Two exhibits were marked as D22 and D23 through a witness examined by the defence as DW-1.

3. The appellants/accused were found guilty of all the offences alleged and they were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs. 50,000/- each under Section 302 of IPC and S.3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (