1. The appellants herein are the accused 1 and 2 in S.C.No.8 of 2007, on the file of the Sessions Court (Mahalir Neethi Mandram), Coimbatore and they stand convicted under Section 498-A and 306 IPC and they are sentenced each to undergo two years rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.1000/- in default to undergo simple imprisonment for six months for the offence under Section 498-A IPC and further sentenced to undergo 10 years rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.2000/-each in default to undergo one year simple imprisonment for the offence under Section 306 IPC and the sentences of imprisonment are to run concurrently. Aggrieved by the said conviction and sentence the appellants have preferred this criminal appeal.

2. The case of the prosecution, in brief, is as follows: The deceased Joy Amutha Rani is the wife of the first accused and the second accused is the mother-in-law of the deceased. P.W.1 and P.W.5 are the parents of the deceased. P.W.1 had three daughters by name Sarojini P.W.8, Prema Suseela P.W.6 and Joy Amutha Rani, the deceased. P.W.8 was married to P.W.9. P.W.6 was married to P.W.2. The deceased was a graduate, qualified secondary grade teacher and she was working in the Holly Cross School as Teacher. The marriage of the deceased and the first accused was arranged and took place on 14.02.1994. Though it was decided among the parents of both bride and bridegroom to share the marriage expenditures, P.W.1 had to bear all the marriage expenditures. The first accused was working in a Court. P.W.1 paid a sum of Rs.10,000/-cash and 150 grams of gold at the time of marriage. The first accused and the deceased started to live in a Government Quarters at Ingore allotted to the second accused who was working as a nurse in a primary health center. The first accused demanded money from P.W.1 for constructing a house and he also demanded a sum of Rs.50,000/-to start a business for his younger brother.

P.W.1 did not pay any amount stating that she had no sufficient money. P.W.1 also was paying every month a sum of Rs.1000/-for the family expenses of the first accused and the amount was paid in the form of demand drafts. During the month of September or October, 1994, one Kumar brother of the first accused came to the house of P.W.1 and made allegation that the deceased was not in a position to carry the baby in the womb. The deceased was pregnant at that time. The deceased also gave birth to a female child in the month of January, 1995. In the year 1995, the deceased was in her house. The second accused wrote a letter Ex.P.2 dated 08.08.1995 to the deceased using abusive language. On 26.01.1996, the brother of the first accused Kumar wrote a letter Ex.P.5 to P.W.5 stating that the deceased was a lunatic and the life of his brother was spoiled by P.W.1. On 29.09.1997, the second accused wrote a letter Ex.P.1 to P.W.1 stating that the deceased was a lunatic. During May, 2000, the deceased was taken to her parents house and she was left there and after one year, she was again sent back to her matrimonial home. The deceased was brought to the house of the first accused on 31.05.2000, but on 02.06.2001, the first accused sent a notice Ex.P.7 to P.W.1 through his Advocate.

3. On 13.10.2001, the first accused went out of the house to purchase tea powder and on his return, he saw smoke emanating out of his house and on break opening the door, he went inside the house and saw the deceased having committed suicide by self-immolation. He also gave a complaint to the Sub Inspector of Police, Sulur Police Station who registered the First Information Report under Section 174 Cr.P.C. P.W.1 also received a message through P.W.9 from the first accused. P.W.16 Sub Inspector of Police also informed the Tahsildar. P.W.16 also conducted inquest over the dead body of the deceased and prepared Ex.P.22 inquest report. The body was sent for post mortem examination. P.W.14 Doctor conducted post mortem on the body of the dece