S. Nagamuthu, J.

The appellant is the sole accused in S.C.No.201 of 2011 on the file of the learned V Additional District and Sessions Judge, Coimbatore. He stood charged for offences punishable under Sections 302 and 201 I.P.C. By judgment dated 24.10.2016, the trial Court convicted him under both the charges and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life and pay a fine of Rs.1,000 in default to undergo rigourous imprisonment for six months for offence under Section 302 I.P.C and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months for offence under Section 201 I.P.C. Challenging the said conviction and sentence, the appellant is before this Court with this appeal.

2. The case of the prosecution in brief is as follows:

2.1. The accused in this case was running a shop in Tirupur. The deceased was his wife. P.W.1 is the father of the deceased. P.W.1 was residing at Sowdambiga Nagar in Samichettipalayam, Coimbatore District. The marriage between the accused and the deceased was celebrated in the year 2009. After the marriage, the accused and the deceased were residing at Tirupur for sometime. Since the shop run by the accused met with a fire accident, having sustained huge loss, the accused returned to his paternal home at Sivasakthi Nagar, Tirumalainaickenpalayam, Jothipuram Post, Coimbatore. Thereafter, he was working in a private company.

2.2. On 05.11.2010, the accused and the deceased had gone to the house of P.W.1 to celebrate Deepavali. In fact, they had come only a day before Deepavali. On that night, the accused and the deceased were sleeping in a room in the house of P.W.1, whereas, P.W.1 and his wife were sleeping in a different room. Around 02.45 a.m. his wife woke him up requesting him to help her to go to the toilet. At that time, they noticed that the outer door of the house was simply closed and not bolted. The motorcycle of the accused was not found at the place where usually it would have been parked. The iron gate in front of the house was also kept open.

2.3. P.W.2 went up to the room where the accused and the deceased were sleeping and knocked at the door. The accused alone opened the door and came out of the room. P.Ws.1 and 2 asked the accused about the deceased. The accused in turn asked as to where the deceased had gone. He pretended as though he was not aware of the fate of the deceased. Then, all of them went in search of the deceased. The nephew of P.W.1 also searched for the deceased. But the deceased was not found anywhere. At last, when they opened the lid/cover of the water tank behind the house, they found the deceased lying in the tank immersed in water, she was no more. A gold chain (M.O.3) and gold bangle one pair (M.O.1) worn by the deceased were found missing.

2.4. Thereafter, P.W.1 went to Thudiyalur police station and made a complaint at 08.30 a.m. on 05.11.2010. On the said complaint, a case was registered in Crime No.57 of 2010 under Section 174 Cr.P.C. (suspicious death). P.W.14 the then Deputy Superintendent of Police took up the case for investigation. He went to the place of occurrence at 09.30 a.m. prepared an observation mahazar and a rough sketch in the presence of witnesses. He recovered the Hero Honda Passion Plus motorcycle bearing Regn.No.TN-39-AL-1698, which was parked at a distance of about 40 feet away from the house of P.W.1. He examined P.Ws.1 to 3 and few more witnesses. Then, he forwarded the F.I.R. to the Executive Magistrate / Revenue Divisional Officer (P.W.10) for conducting inquest.

2.5. P.W.10 conducted inquest on the body of the deceased on 06.11.2010. It is alleged that during the inquest, he examined many witnesses including the accused. At that time, the accused gave a statement to P.W.10 on his own. In the said statement, he confessed that he killed his wife by strangulating her and by immersing her in water in the water tank. In the said statement, he further stated th