JUDGMENT :

SUNDER MOHAN, J.

1. This Criminal Appeal has been filed by the sole accused, challenging the conviction and sentence imposed upon him vide judgment dated 20.12.2017 in S.C.No. 240 of 2016 on the file of the learned Sessions Judge, Mahalir Neethimandram, Chennai.

2......

(i) It is the case of the prosecution that the deceased was the wife of the appellant; that the appellant suspected her fidelity and harassed her both physically and mentally; that on account of the same, on 16.12.2015 at about 2.00p.m., at their residence at No. 8, G-Block, Valliswaran Garden Housing Board, R.A.Puram, he attacked the deceased with a knife on her neck, face and stomach and caused her death; that when the eyewitnesses and other neighbours tried to catch hold of the appellant, he intimidated them and fled away from the scene. PW1, the mother of the deceased and an eyewitness to the occurrence, lodged a complaint [Ex.P1] to the respondent police. PW12 registered the FIR in Cr.No. 3254 of 2015 at 5.00 p.m., against the appellant for the offences under Sections 341, 302 and 506(ii) of the IPC and took up the investigation. The printed FIR was marked as Ex.P11.

(ii) Thereafter, PW12 went to the scen