Chander Bhusan Barowalia, J.

1. The present appeal is maintained by the appellant/accused/convict (hereinafter referred to as “the accused”) laying challenge to judgment dated 26.10.2013, passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Hamirpur, H.P., in Sessions Trial No. 1 of 2013, whereby the accused was convicted for the commission of offence punishable under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as “IPC”).

2. The background facts, as projected by the prosecution, can tersely be summarized as under:

The accused, when in the year 2011, posted as Sepoy Gunner No. 14939093H, Mech. Infantry (7 Grenadier), at Babina Cantt., District Jhansi (U.P.), was in relationship with the deceased, daughter of Shri Yashwant Singh. As per the prosecution case, the accused was in regular touch with the deceased and he was using cell No. 073094-00919. The accused used to make calls to the deceased on her cell No. 98168-46315. On 04.03.2011, when the deceased accompanied the accused to his place of posting, where she stayed for some days, both of them had sexual relation. The father of the deceased, Shri Rakesh Thakur, brought her back and the matter was amicably settled to save the dignity and honour of the deceased. The matter was not reported to the police and it was agreed that the deceased and the accused will neither meet nor have any future contact or relation with each other. In lieu of compromise, the mother of the deceased, Smt. Meera Devi, was paid Rs. 25,000/- (rupees twenty five thousand). However, the accused did not desist from calling the deceased. As per the prosecution, on and w.e.f. 23.06.2011 the accused came on leave and on 19.07.2011 he met with the deceased at Awah Devi temple, thereafter the deceased went missing. When the deceased did not return home, her mother tried to contract her on cell phone and she came to know that she went with the accused. Thereafter, cell phone of the deceased was switched off and the family members started searching her, but in vain. The mother and brother of the deceased repeatedly made phone calls on cell-phone of the accused and ultimately on 22.07.2011 he picked up the call, but could not tell about the deceased. Subsequently, the accused told the brother of the accused ^^eSaus-----------¼e`rd½ dk tks djuk Fkk dj fn;k gSA vkius tks djuk gS dj yksA** Despite strenuous efforts of the family members of the deceased, the deceased could not be traced and on 07.09.2011 the mother of the deceased filed a complaint before Superintendent of Police, Mandi, H.P., whereupon FIR No. 207 of 2011, dated 09.09.2011 was registered against the accused under Sections 363, 366, IPC, at Police Station, Sarkaghat, Mandi, H.P. and the investigation ensued. On 10.09.2011, when the police visited house of the complainant, a hand written note of the deceased was given to the police by the complainant, wherein it was written ^^eSaus viuk thou lkFkh <wU< fy;k gS] b/kj m/kj Q+ksu er djuk] eSa Q+ksu dj nwaxh] esjh fpark er djuk] eSa dj.k ds lkFk tk jgh gw¡A** During the course of investigation, record qua date of birth of the deceased, i.e., copy of pariwar register was procured and on 18.09.2011 police went to Babina Cantt, Jhansi, U.P.. It was unearthed that during the period from 23.06.2011 to 22.07.2011 the accused was on leave. The accused was using cell No. 073094-00919 at Babina Cantt, District Jhansi, U.P. The accused was arrested and later on released on bail due to insufficient evidence. On 28.07.2012, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by PSI Sanjeev Kumar was constituted. After careful analysis of the call records, it was unearthed that on 21.07.2011 cell No. 073094-00919, i.e., of the accused, was operating through handset having IMEI No. 910517500060140 and this IMEI number was of hand-set of the deceased, on which she was using cell No. 98168- 46315. On 07.08.2012, the accused, yielded to the intense interrogation of the SIT and confessed that he committed murder of