Mockett, J.

1. The three accused have been convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of one Akkammal, the wife of accused 1. The charge alleges that Akkammal died of suffocation. Her body was founds in the village well on the morning of 17th March at about 9 A.M. The medical evidence was to the effect that she had died of suffocation and not of drowning. For the present we will discuss the evidence on the basis-that Akkammal was in fact murdered although it will be necessary to return to an investigation of the medical evidence at a later stage. The plan Ex. W, indicates that accused 1 lived with his wife at Gangapurampalle in a kottam which is next to the main house in which his parents, P.W. 3, her husband, and her children lived. There is no doubt that accused 1 and his wife were not happy. Accused 1 had married a second wife and had been ordered by a Magistrate to pay Akkammal Rs. 10 a month for maintenance. Ex. J is the revision petition filed against that order, which was dismissed by King J. There is evidence by P.W. 1 the uncle, that accused 1 illtreated his wife. The case for the prosecution is that accused 1 hired accused 2 and 3, to murder his wife and that