( 1 ) RAM Sajiwan has been convicted under Section 302 I. P. C. and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife Smt. Bitti on the morning of the 27th August 1961.

( 2 ) SHORTLY stated, the facts of the case are that the appellant was married to Smt. Bitti about 3 years bach and her gauna was performed some 2 years ago; that the deceased used to run away from the house of her husband to her bahnois place; that on the last occasion she had run away to the house of her bahnoi with Rs. 130/-; that her hasband had gone there to call her and brought her back to his house; that some 10 or 12 days before the present occurrence the brother of the deceased came to fetch her but the accused refused to send her; that the accused and the deceased went to their juar field for scraping grass on the morning of the 27th August, 1961; that the deceased asked her husband to send her to her maika but-the accused refused to do so; that the deceased abused her husband and then the accused killed her with a khurpi which he was carrying; that the accused then went by passenger train from Khaga to Fatehpur railway station from where he took a rickshaw and went to the Kotwali police station where he lodged a report of the occurrence; that in the report made by the accused he confessed to having committed the murder of his wife; that at the time of the making of the report by the accused he was wearing a blood-stained dhoti which had been taken off from his body by the Head Constable; and that the accused accompanied by the Station Officer of "kotwali Police Station, Fatehpur, and the sub-Inspector of Police Station Khaga went to his village and pointed out the dead body to the said police officers. It was on these facts that the prosecution of the accused was based.

( 3 ) THE post-mortem, examination conducted by Dr. Bhargava, Civil Surgeon, Fatehpur, revealed 9 incised wounds on the dead body, 3 of which were on the left and the back of the neck resulting in cutting of the vertebra and the spinal cord. The Civil Surgeon stated that the injuries appeared to have been caused by some sharp edged weapon like a khurpi.

( 4 ) THE statement of Hasan Uddin, Head Constable, P. S. Kotwali, Fatehpur, was to the effect that the accused came to the police station Kotwali at 11. 15 a. m. on the 27th August, 1961 and got a report written about the murder of his wife. He proved the report made by the accused, Ex. Ka-14. The witness further stated that the accused was putting on a blood-stained dhoti and the same was taken off from his body and sealed at the spot. Azmatullah, Station Officer, P. S. Kotwali, took the accused in his custody and brought him to Police Station Khaga, and accompanied by Iqbal Ahmad, Sub-Inspector of Police Station Khaga, they went to the place of occurrence where the accused pointed out the dead body of his wife lying in the juar field of one ram Narain. It was claimed by the prosecution that the accused had taken the field of Ram narain on batai and that on the date of the occurrence the accused and his wife had gone to scrape grass in that field. The dead body was identified by Gulab, a resident of village baiju-ka-Purwa where the murder was committed. Gulab also identified the two khurpis belonging to the accused and the deceased, as also the dhoti which had been recovered from the person of the accused at the police station. The two khurpis recovered from the spot and the dhoti recovered from the person of the accused were sent to the Chemical Examiner and the government Serologist for examination and report. The latter found human blood-stains on one of the khurpis as also on the dhoti belonging to the accused.

( 5 ) THE accused pleaded not guilty. He denied the prosecution allegation that he had made a report at the police station admitting his guilt. He further denied the he had gone with his wife to scrape grass in the field of Ram Narain on the morning of the date of occurrence. His statement was that his w