The accused, who is the father of the deceased, has killed his

own daughters and has filed the present criminal appeal against the

impugned judgment of conviction dated 29.11.2018 and the order

of sentence dated 03.12.2018 made in S.C.No.112/2012 on the file

of the IV Additional District and Sessions Judge, Shivamogga,

sitting at Bhadravathi, convicting the accused under the provisions

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of Section 302 of IPC and sentencing the accused to undergo

imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs.50,000/-with a default

clause.

2.

It is the case of the prosecution that the accused and

CW.1-Bhagya are husband and wife, and their marriage took place

eight years prior to the alleged incident. Out of their wedlock, they

had three children, namely Pallavi, Jayalakshmi and Yashavantha

and after the birth of the third child, their relationship was strained.

Hence, CW.1-Bhagya was residing in her parents9 house since

three years as on the date of the incident. Out of three children,

two daughters were studying and staying in a hostel. On

21.03.2012, CW.6 and CW.7, the paternal grand parents of the

children, invited two daughters on the eve of the Ugadi Festival to

their house at Bhadravathi and the accused called the complainant-

CW.1 to his house for the festival, she did not come. In order to

take revenge against her, he took the two daughters at about 11.00

a.m. on 25.03.2012 from the house and pushed them into the

Bhadra river behind the K.S.R.T.C Depot at about 12.00 noon and

thereby, committed the murder of his two daughters.

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3.

On the basis of the complaint dated 29.03.2012 as per

Ex.P1, the Circle Inspector of Police of Bhadravathi Town Circle, set

the law in motion and registered a case in Crime No.39/2012 under

the provisions of Section 302 of IPC against the accused.

4.

The matter has been committed to the learned Sessions

Judge. After committal, the learned Sessions Judge secured the

presence of the accused and framed charge against the accused

under the provisions of Section 302 of IPC and read over and

explained in the language known to him, who pleaded not guilty

and claimed to be tried.

5. In order to prove the case of the prosecution, the

prosecution examined, in all, 17 witnesses as PW.1 to PW.17, got

marked 26 material documents as Ex.P1 to Ex.P26 and identified

M.O.1 and M.O.2. After conclusion of evidence of the prosecution

witnesses, the statement of the accused as contemplated under the

provisions of Section 313 of Cr.P.C. was recorded. He denied the

incriminating evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses, but

not adduced any defence evidence and got marked the statement

of CW.1 as per Ex.D1 and signature as per Ex.D1(a).

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6.

Based on the aforesaid pleadings, learned Sessions

Judge framed a point for consideration, which read as under:-

Whether the prosecution proves beyond all reasonable

doubt that on 25.03.2012 at about 11.00 a.m., in order

to take revenge against his wife, took away his two

daughters from the house and pushed into Bhadra river

behind K.S.R.T.C. depot at about 12.00 noon and

thereby, accused has committed an offence punishable

under Sec.302 of IPC?

7. Considering the entire material on record, the learned

Sessions Judge answered the above point in the affirmative, holding

that the prosecution has proved, beyond all reasonable doubt, that

the accused, in order to take revenge against his wife, took away

his two daughters on 25.03.2012 at about 11.00 a.m. from the

house and pushed them into the Bhadra river behind the K.S.R.T.C

Depot at about 12.00 noon and thereby, committed the murder of

his own daughters. Accoridngly, the learned Session Judge

convicted the accused and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment

for life with a fine of Rs.50,000/-with a default clause under the

provisions of Section 302 of IPC. Hence, the present appeal is filed.

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8.

We have heard the learned counsel for the parties.

9.

Sri

Subrahmanya

P.D.,

learned

counsel

for

the

appellant-accused contended wit