JUDGMENT :

Abhay S. Oka, J.

1. The Sessions Court convicted the appellant-accused for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, ‘IPC’) for committing the murder of Smt Hemwati Bai, who was his stepmother. Appellant was sentenced to undergo life imprisonment. By the impugned judgment, the High Court has dismissed the appeal preferred by the appellant.

FACTUAL ASPECT

2. The case of the prosecution in brief is that the appellant had a land dispute with the deceased. The allegation against the appellant is that on 2nd March 2013, he assaulted the deceased. After that, he caught hold of the deceased by her hair and dragged her up to the village pond. The appellant put her head inside the pond water. The deceased was suffocated to death. The first informant–Darshu, PW-4, informed the police that Hemwati Bai died due to drowning. Accordingly, a First Information Report (for short, ‘FIR’) was registered. After the completion of the investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the appellant. The prosecution examined ten witnesses. There is no direct evidence. The prosecution relied upon evidence of PW-1, Sukhmani Bai, the village officer. The prosecution ca