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2017 Supreme(Mad) 1460
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
S. Nagamuthu and N. Authinathan, JJ.
V. Shobana - Appellant
Versus
The State rep by The Inspector of Police, Nambiur Police Station, Erode District - Respondent
Crl.A. No. 723 of 2016
Decided On : 10-01-2017
For the Appellant :Mr. Gopalakrishna Lakshmana Raja, Advocate.
For the Respondent: Mr. P. Govindarajan, Addl. Public Prosecutor.
Headnote:
Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Section 302 – Offence of Murder – Extra Judicial Confession -Appeal against conviction - When the deceased was in the custody of the accused, she gave food mixed with pesticide known as Phorate (xxx) and made the child to consume. Though the child, due to bitter taste, refused to eat, the accused forced her to eat. Within a short while, the child fainted – Held, Extra Judicial Confession said to have been made by the accused to P.W.11, it was allegedly made on 03.10.2015 i.e., after three months of the occurrence. All these days the accused was very much with her parents and her relatives. When that was the case, it is not at all believable that the accused would have suddenly changed her mind and gone to a total stranger to make such an extra judicial confession. In our considered view, the extra judicial confession said to have been made by the accused does not inspire confidence of this Court. A perusal of the same would go to show that in Ex.P.9, the only signature of the accused is found below the signature of the VAO at the bottom of the paper at the last page. In our considered view, the said extra judicial confession would not have been made by the accused at all. Above all, if Extra Judicial confession is found to be believable and if the same inspires the confidence of this Court, then only, even in the absence of any independent corroboration, the accused could be convicted solely based on such uncorroborated extra judicial confession. In this case, Ex.P.9 does not draw any corroboration from any other source. Thus, closely scruitinising all the evidences let in by the prosecution, we find that absolutely there is no convincing evidence to hold that it was this accused who killed the deceased - Appeal is allowed
S. Nagamuthu, J.
The appellant is the sole accused in S.C.No.1 of 2016 on the file of the Fast Track Mahila Court, Erode. She stood charged for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC. By judgment dated 06.05.2016, the trial Court convicted the accused for the offence under Section 302 IPC and sentenced her to undergo Life Imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.10,000/- in default, to undergo two years simple imprisonment. 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:-
(a) The deceased in this case was one Krishnapriya, hardly aged five years. P.W.1 is the father of the deceased and the accused is the mother of the deceased. The marriage between the accused and P.W.1 was celebrated in the year 2009. Out of the said wedlock, the deceased was born in a year. There arose frequent domestic quarrels between P.W.1 and the accused, as a result, the accused, who had gone to her mother's house at Chennai for delivery, stayed back with her mother. P.W.1 tried to bring her back into matrimonial home, but she refused. Thus, the accused was residing in Chennai with her child and with her mother. P.W.1 was residing with his parents at Kodarai village in Erode District. He is a taxi driver by profession.
(b) It is further alleged that later on, the accused along with her mother and child came to Nambiyur Village in Erode District and started residing there in a rental house. It is the further case of the prosecution that the accused had desired to go in for second marriage. She had the impression that the her child would be a hindrance for her for the second marriage. Therefore, according to the prosecution case, she decided to kill the deceased.
(c) It is alleged that on 08.07.2015 around 5.00 p.m., when the deceased was in the custody of the accused, she gave food mixed with pesticide known as Phorate (xxx) and made the child to consume. Though the child, due to bitter taste, refused to eat, the accused forced her to eat. Within a short while, the child fainted. The accused, thereafter, went to the house of P.W.2, neighbour and informed her that her child was unwell, then she informed P.W.3 another a neighbour. P.Ws.2 and 3 advised her to take the deceased to a nearby hospital. Accordingly, with the help of her brother, the accused took the child to a private hospital, run by P.W.6. Dr. Shanmugam. P.W.6 examined the child and found no life. He declared her dead. He wanted the accused to take the dead body to the Government Hospital at Gopi. But the accused along with her brother took the child back from the hospital and kept the dead body at the house of P.W.4, the mother-in-law of the accused. The mother-in-law returned only in the evening and P.W.1 also returned in the evening and they came to know that the child was no more. Then they passed on the information to the mother of the accused, who was in Chennai. She returned on the next day. Since it was made to believe that the child died a natural death, they gave a decent burial.
(d) On 10.07.2015, P.Ws.2 and 3 informed P.W.1 that the accused had forced the child to have food which created suspicion in their mind. Based on the said information, P.W.1 immediately rushed to Nambiyur Police Station and made a complaint at 2.30 p.m on 10.07.2015. The Sub Inspector of Police, Nambiyur Police Station registered a case in Cr.No.198 of 2015 under Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code (suspicious death). Ex.P.14 is the First Information Report.
(e) P.W.17 the then Inspector of Police took up the case for investigation. He went to the house of the accused, prepared an observation mahazar and a rough sketch in the presence of witnesses. He examined P.Ws 1 to 4 and few more witnesses and recorded their statements. He made a request to the Executive Magistrate/Tahsildar to exhume the dead body of the deceased. Accordingly, on 10.07.2015 the dead body was exhumed by P.W.9-Tahsildar. Dr.
