Madras HC pulls up prosecution, sets free man accused of murdering wife
A division of Justice MS Ramesh and Justice C Kumarappan heard the appeal moved by the petitioner Nagaraj challenging his life conviction imposed by Mahila court, Krishnagiri.
Madras High Court
CHENNAI: Pulling up the prosecution for failing in establishing any material evidence against the accused, the Madras High Court set aside the life imprisonment imposed on a man, who allegedly killed his wife over a wordy quarrel touching upon their son's education.
A division of Justice MS Ramesh and Justice C Kumarappan heard the appeal moved by the petitioner Nagaraj challenging his life conviction imposed by Mahila court, Krishnagiri.
The trial court, without taking note of the lacuna in the evidences and had simply placed reliance on hearsay evidences, had found the accused guilty and sentenced him to imprisonment, said the bench.
Such an appreciation, in the absence of any other corroboration through other witnesses, may not be creditworthy, wrote the bench and held that the finding of guilt and the consequential conviction imposed by the trial court cannot be legally sustained, read the judgment.
The bench also formed an opinion that the prosecution has totally failed to establish their case as there is no material to confirm the place of occurrence, the weapon that is alleged to have been used for the crime, or any other evidence to confirm the presence of the accused in the scene of occurrence.
Hence the bench allowed the appeal and set aside the life conviction imposed on the appellant by the trial court.
The case of the prosecution is that the accused was a drunkard and had been picking up frequent quarrels with his wife.
On February 3, 2018, the accused demanded his wife to send his son to daily wage rather than pursuing higher education, said the prosecution.
On the fateful day, the quarrel reached a boiling point, out of anger the accused had severely injured his wife with a machete all over her body and fled from the scene of the crime, the prosecution claimed.
Based on the complaint lodged by the deceased son, Thenkanikottai police registered a case against the accused and arrested him.
The prosecution arrived at the conclusion that Nagaraj is the culprit, after examining the witnesses and found the motive for the culpability in the past history of frequent quarrel.
