The Court made the following JUDGMENT:

1. This appeal, under sections 378(1) and (3) of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, ‘Cr.P.C’) is preferred by the Appellant / State against the judgment of acquittal rendered by the learned Assistant Sessions Judge, Tanuku (for short, ‘the Trial Court’) in Sessions Case No.410 of 2006 by its judgment dated 08.09.2008 acquitted the accused for the offence punishable under sections 509, 307 and 354 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, ‘IPC’).

2. Perused the impugned judgment of acquittal rendered by the Trial Court, which is challenged under this appeal. It consisted of evidence of PWs.1 to 9 and documents Exs.P.1 to P.8 and M.O.1, were marked. On behalf of the accused, Exs.D.1 to D.5 were marked.

3. The facts in a nutshell, which give rise to the present appeal, are as follows:

(a) The accused and the de facto complainant (PW.1- Alluri Subba Lakshmi) are residents of Tanuku. PW.1 is the accused's sister, and her husband (PW.2-Alluri Madhavarao) is an advocate at the Tanuku Bar Association. PW.3 (Chilaparapu Brahmanandam) owns Ac.3.50 cents of agricultural land situated at K.Illindaraparru village, which had been cultivated by the accused. Subsequently, PW.1 purchased the said land and has been in possession and enjoyment of it with full rights from 28.03.2006. On 11.07.2006 at about 9:30 AM, PWs.1 and 2 went to the said field, where her father, PW.3, was already present. PWs.1 and 2 stopped their vehicle and proceeded towards the cattle shed. The accused was also present there and was removing the fuses of the agricultural electrical motor. PW.1 questioned him about why he was removing the fuses and asked him who he was. At that point, the accused abused her, caught hold of her hair, pushed her down, and insulted her modesty.

(b) PW.2 ran to her rescue and pushed the accused away. The accused, who is also her brother, then threatened her, stating that he had planned to kill her that very day. He brought a knife from the cattle shed and attempted to attack her, but PW.2 intervened and saved her. The accused again approached them with the knife, forcing them to run towards the road. PW.3 stopped two auto drivers, Addala Rambabu (PW.5) and Maddalasetti Subbarao (PW.6), who were passing by. They came to their rescue, disarmed the accused, and took the knife from him. The accused continued abusing them in filthy language and threatened to kill PW.2 before fleeing the scene. The accused had pre- planned the attempt to murder PW.1. PW.1 then went to the police station and submitted a written report regarding the incident. The Sub- Inspector of Police received her report and registered a case in Crime No.59/2006 for offences under Sections 509 and 307 of the IPC at Iragavaram Police Station on 18.07.2006 at 4:00 PM, and commenced investigation.

(c) During the investigation, the Sub-Inspector visited the scene of the offence and prepared a scene observation report in the presence of mediators Kadali Venkata Satyanarayana (PW.7) and Gubbala Satyanarayana (PW.8). He secured the statements of PWs.1 to 6. On 20.07.2006, the Sub-Inspector received information regarding the presence of the accused at his field at K.Illindaraparru village. He arrested the accused at 7:45 AM at the field, seized the knife, and prepared a mediator’s report in the presence of the same mediators. The accused was then remanded to judicial custody.

4. The Trial Court took cognizance of the offence under Sections 509, 307 and 354 of IPC against the accused. Upon his appearance before the Court, copies of the relevant documents were furnished to him as mandated under Section 207 of the Cr.P.C. After hearing the submissions made by the Public Prosecutor and the defence counsel on the question of charge, the Trial Court framed charges against the accused for the offence punishable under Sections 509, 307 and 354 of the IPC. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried.

5. The Trial Court examined the accused as requir