P.N. PRAKASH, C.V.KARTHIKEYAN, JJ.

1. The reference in R.T. No.2 of 2017 has been made by the learned Additional District and Sessions Judge, Namakkal, under Section 366 Cr.P.C., seeking confirmation of the capital punishment imposed upon Kamaraj (A2) and Elangovan (A3) vide judgment dated 02.06.2017 in S.C. No. 94 of 2012. Kamaraj (A2) and Elangovan (A3) have independently preferred Criminal Appeal Nos.465 of 2017 and 402 of 2017 respectively, challenging their convictions and sentences.

2. The case of the prosecution, culled out from the materials on record, is as follows:

2.1 This is a case of triple murder for gain. Umadevi (P.W.1) and her husband Dr. Sundaram (P.W.4) are the owners of Annai Eye Hospital and Annai Opticals in Fort Road, Namakkal. Dr.Sundaram (P.W.4) is an Ophthalmologist by profession and his wife Umadevi (P.W.1) manages the hospital. The couple live in the ground floor of the hospital and they have no children. The couple own an independent bungalow a kilometre away in Mullai Nagar. The father of Umadevi (P.W.1) died sometime in 1977 leaving behind his wife Visalakshi (D1), one son by name Sivagurunathan and three daughters, viz., Sathyavathi (D3), Parvathy (P.W.7) and Umadevi (P.W.1). Sathyavathi (D3) was married to Dr. Thirumalaiswamy (P.W.8), an E.N.T. specialist and through the said wedlock, she begot a daughter Sindhu (D2), who also became a medical professional. As Sathyavathi (D3) got estranged from her husband Dr.Thirumalaiswamy (P.W.8), she started living separately with her daughter Dr. Sindhu (D2). Dr. Sindhu (D2) was married to Dr.Balasubramaniam (P.W.9), an Orthopaedic Surgeon and they have a daughter named Abinandhini, aged about 6 years.

2.2 It appears that the sisters, viz., Sathyavathi (D3), Umadevi (P.W.1) and Parvathi (P.W.7) were very close and since Umadevi (P.W.1) was issueless, she was very fond of the daughter of her sister Sathyavathi (D3), viz., Dr. Sindhu (D2) and they treated Dr. Sindhu (D2) as their own child. Since Sathyavathi (D3) was estranged from her husband, the family decided to house Visalakshi (D1) and Sathyavathi (D3) in the house of Umadevi (P.W.1) at Mullai Nagar. Since Dr. Sindhu (D2) was in active practice, she left her child Abinandhini in the care and custody of her mother Sathyavathi (D3) and grandmother Visalakshi (D1) in their Mullai Nagar residence.

2.3 Ten days prior to the incident, Dr. Sindhu (D2) came to the Mullai Nagar residence to be with her mother Sathyavathi (D3) and daughter Abinandhini. A gruesome tragedy struck the family on 13.10.2011 between 3.15 p.m and 3.30 p.m., when two persons entered into the house. Those two persons, after tying up the inmates, slit the neck of Visalakshi (D1), Dr. Sindhu (D2) and Sathyavathi (D3) and left with a huge haul of gold jewellery from them. There was a little life left in Sathyavathi (D3) and so, she managed to come out of the house and entered the house of her neighbour Sampathkumar (P.W.2). Sampathkumar (P.W.2) and his wife were aghast on seeing Sathyavathi (D3) bleeding all over and unable to speak, as she was having cut injuries on her neck and left wrist. Sathyavathi (D3) wanted to write something and so, Sampathkumar (P.W.2) gave her a scrap of paper, on which, Sathyavathi (D3) wrote in Tamil as follows:

“Any Other Language”

She left her blood stains on the paper.

2.4 Immediately, Sampathkumar (P.W.2) and his wife went to the next door to see what had happened and at that time, Umadevi (P.W.1) and her husband Dr. Sundaram (P.W.4) were entering into the house. Umadevi (P.W.1) was shocked to see her mother Visalakshi (D1) beneath the staircase, lying in a pool of blood, with cut injuries in her neck and with a lungi tied around her neck. Thereafter, she saw her niece Dr. Sindhu (D2) in the dining hall, lying in a pool of blood, with cut injuries in her neck, with her hands and legs tied. This gha