Circumstantial evidence, including the last seen theory and recovery of incriminating material, sufficiently established the appellant's guilt for murder under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC.

JUDGMENT

Raja Vijayaraghavan, J.

This appeal, filed under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure , is preferred by the sole accused in S.C. No. 84 of 2016 on the file of the Additional Sessions Judge-IV, Thodupuzha. In the above case, he was charged for having committed offences punishable under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC .

2. By the judgment under challenge, the appellant was found guilty of the offences punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 50,000/-, with a default clause and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years and to pay a fine of Rs. 25,000/-, with a default clause, for the offence under Section 201 of the .

Prosecution case:

3. The deceased in the case is Anitha @ Sreeja, the wife of the appellant herein. According to the prosecution, on 25.03.2014 at about 12.30 hours, the appellant took Anitha to the south-eastern side of the property belonging to one Xaviour Pinakkattu situated at Keettila Kara, Velliyamattom Village, and thereafter strangled her by tying a shawl around her neck and intentionally committed the murder. It is also alleged that the appellant, with a view to cause disappearance of the evidence, set fire to the shawl which was used by the appellant for strangulating the deceased with the intention of screening himself from legal punishment.

Registration of the FIR and initial investigation:

4. In the case on hand, the crime was registered on 26.03.2014 based on information furnished by PW1, her neighbour. PW17, the Sub Inspector of Police, Kanjar Police Station, recorded the statement of PW1 at 08.00 a.m. on 26.03.2014, based on which Ext.P7 FIR in Crime No. 324 of 2014 was registered under Section 174 of Cr.P.C. The FIR was then placed before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Idukki. Immediately thereafter, he conducted the inquest over the dead body of Sreeja and prepared Ext.P2 inquest report. At the time of inquest, the clothes found on the body of the deceased were seized. Thereafter, the body was forwarded to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital for conducting the autopsy. After the postmortem, the surgeon gave a report that it was a case of homicide. On its basis, Section 302 of the IPC was incorporated, and a report was forwarded to the Judicial Magistrate of the First Class-I, Thodupuzha. The items seized from the body of the deceased were forwarded to the Court as per Ext.P8 property list.

5. The investigation was then taken over by PW18, the Inspector of Police, Kanjar Police Station, on 27.03.2014. He came to the scene of crime and prepared Ext. P3 scene mahazar. On 27.03.2014 at 05.00 p.m., the accused was arrested while he was standing at the Kanjar junction. Ext.P9 (series) is the Arrest Memo, Inspection Memo, and Arrest Notice. After arresting the accused, when he was questioned, he is alleged to have disclosed that the shawl used for strangulating the deceased was burnt by him in the hearth in his house, and as led by the accused, he came to House No. 267 in Ward No.3 of Kudayathoor Grama Panchayath, wherein the appellant was staying along with his family. From the hearth, some amount of ash, some burnt wooden particles etc. were seized in the presence of witnesses at 11.00 a.m. on 28.03.2015 as per Ext.P5 seizure mahazar. The relevant portion of the disclosure statement is Ext.P5(a). Later, h