Judgment : JANARTHANAM, J. ( 1 ) THE accused, aggrieved by the conviction and sentence in S. C. No. 165 of 1985 on the file of Court of Session, Vellore, has come forward with this appeal. ( 2 ) THE brief facts are: (a) One Lakshmanan (since deceased), was a resident of Tharvazhi Village, situate within the jurisdiction of Pallikonda Police Station. The accused Jaya is non-else than the wife of the deceased. The deceased is her maternal uncle. Their marriage took place some seven years prior to 1st August, 1985, the date on which the fateful occurrence took place. P. W. 3 is the paternal uncle of the deceased. P. W. 8 resides one furlong away from the house of the accused, namely, Vedamuthupatti Kollai Kottai, wherein she lived along with her husband, the deceased. (b) According to P. Ws. 3 and 8, there was want of cordial atmosphere between the accused and the deceased, in the sense of both of them resorting to very often skirmishes and quarrels. It appears that the deceased had a happy marital life with his wife, the accused for about two months after their marriage. Thereafter, he fell into evil ways to addiction to liquor and it had become a day-to-day affair of his having been fully drunk, coming to the house and be labouring his wife for some reason or others and very often resorting to beat her for not preparing sumptuous and tasty food, even though he was not providing the requisite resources for running the family enable to bear the torment and torture at the hands of the deceased, the accused it is said, went and took shelter in her parents house for a period of two years. After some mediation, she was persuaded to go along with her husband, the deceased and have a matrimonial life. She did so. But alas. The same old tantalishing and agonising situation she faced at the hands of her husband-the deceased, still continued. The situation never improved. But on the other hand, it got worsened. But none- the-less, two years prior to the occurrence, she was belessed with a female child. Even subsequent to the birth of the child, the husband-the deceased never returned to the path of rectitude to have an amicable relationship with his wife-the accused. The situation never improved. But on the other hand, it got worsened. But none- the-less, two years prior to the occurrence, she was belessed with a female child. Even subsequent to the birth of the child, the husband-the deceased never returned to the path of rectitude to have an amicable relationship with his wife-the accused. The agonising situation, she faced at the hands of her husband-the deceased, has been increasing in geometrical proportion and on the night of the day of the occurrence, it even went to the dizzy height. (c) At 8 p. m. on that day, he returned fully drunk to the house, and mandated his wife-the accused, to serve him food. She, in fact, served raghi food. The moment such a food was served the husband-the deceased got wild and beat her on her back with M. O. 2 stick. Thus apart, he was stated to have fisted her on her left eye by violently catching hold of her hands. In such a process, the bangles, she wore on her hands, broke to pieces. He also posed an imminence of threat of danger to the life of his wife-the accused by his conduct of placing by the side of his bed, M. O. 1, KODUVAL, whilst he went to sleep. (d ). The accused-wife was stated to have taken the said M. O. 1 KODUVAL and inflicted certain cuts on the neck of the deceased. Which resulted in his death more or less instantaneously. Her frightened child appears to have screamed. On hearing the same, P. W. 3 emerged to the scene and enquired about the same. The accused after keeping the door ajar came out and told him that there was noting to worry and her child, after all, woke up and cried. Believing those words, P. W. 3 went back. (e) Thereafter, the accused, after locking the door from outside and taking the child along with her, went by walk to the house of P. W. 1, the Village Administrative Officer, situate at Ganganallur Village. She reached there at about 6. 30 a. m. P. W. 1 was available in his office along with his menials Anandan and Subramanian. P. W. 2 was also present then there, conversing with him. She reached there at about 6. 30 a. m. P. W. 1 was available in his office along with his menials Anandan and Subramanian. P. W. 2 was also present then there, conversing with him. The accused narrated in detail the circumstances under which she happened to murder her husband and the narration so made by her had been reduced into writing by P. W. 1. He read out the same to her and she accepted the same to be correct and the same had been attested by P. W. 2. Ex. Pus her statements so recorded by P. W. 1. (f) P. W. 1 then along with the accused and the menials went to the house of the accused-and saw the deceased lying dead in a pool of blood. He found by the side of the body of the deceased I M. Os. 1 and 2. There he prepared Exhibit P-2 report. He sent the accused through his Thalaiyari Subramanian, along with Exhibits P-1 and P-2 Pallikonda Police Station. (g) P. W. 11 is the Sub-inspector of Police. At 9 a. m. , Thalaiyari Subramaniam produced the accused along with Exhibits P-1 and P-2 to P. W. 1. who in turn registered the case in Crime No. 139/85, for an offence under section 302, I. P. C. He prepared express reports, and sent the same to the concerned officials. Exhibit P-20 is the copy of the express F. I. R. and the same had been despatched to the Court through P. W. 10 Grade I Constable. He seized from the accused, at about 9. 30 a. m. the saree, M. O. 10 and jacket M. O. 11 worn by her, obviously after giving change of clothes, as the same was stained with blood, under Form No. 95. She was having certain injuries on her person and, therefore, he sent her to the Government Hospital for the purpose of treatment. (h) P. W. 12 is the Inspector of Police. On receipt of the message over telephone as respects the occurrence at 9. 30 a. m. he went and reached the police station at 10 a. m. and took up further investigation of this case. (i) P. W. 4 is the doctor attached to the Government Hospital, Pallikonda. He examined the accused at 11 a. m. and treated her for the injuries. 30 a. m. he went and reached the police station at 10 a. m. and took up further investigation of this case. (i) P. W. 4 is the doctor attached to the Government Hospital, Pallikonda. He examined the accused at 11 a. m. and treated her for the injuries. Exhibit P-S is the copy of the wound certificate issued to her. j) P. W. 12 reached the scene at 11 a. m. and after inspection, prepared Exhibit P - 3 observation mahazar. He drew a rough sketch of the scene, Exhibit P-21. He seized from the place where the dead body was lying, M. Os. 1 and 2, bloodstained earth M. O. 3, sample earth M. O. 4 and broken, bangles M. O. S under Exhibit P-4 mahazar. Exhibits P-3 and P-4 had been attested by P. W. 1 and another. Between 12 noon and 2. 30 p. m. , he held inquest over the body of the deceased. Exhibit P-22 is the inquest report. During inquest, he examined P. Ws. 1 to 3 and others. After inquest, he sent the body of the deceased through the Constable, P. W. 6, along with Exhibit P-6 requisition for purpose of autopsy. He caused photographs of the scene to be taken by P. W. 9. Exhibits P-12 to P15 are the negatives and Exhibits P-16 to P-19 are the photo prints. He examined P. Ws. 8 and 9. (k) P. W. S is the Medical Officer attached to the Government Hospital, Vellore. On receipt of Exhibit P-6 requisition, he commenced autopsy at 9 a. m. on 2. 8. 1985 over the body of the deceased. Exhibit P-7 is the post-mortem certificate. He would opine that the injuries as described in Exhibit P-7, could have been caused with a weapon like M. O. 1 and death could have been instantaneous. (l) After autopsy was over, P. W. 6, seized from the body shirt M. O. 6, banian M. O. 7, dhoti M. O. 8 and underwear M. O. 9 and handed over the same at the police station, which were seized under Form No. 95. (m) On 2. 8. 1985, P. W. 12 sent the accused to the Court for remand. He examined P. W s. 4, 6, 10 and others. On 5. 8. (m) On 2. 8. 1985, P. W. 12 sent the accused to the Court for remand. He examined P. W s. 4, 6, 10 and others. On 5. 8. 1985, he sent Exhibit P-8 requisition to Court for despatching the incriminating articles to the Chemical Examiner for the purpose of examination. (n) P. W. 7 is the Headclerk attached to the Court of the Judicial Second Class Magistrate No. III, Vellore. On receipt of Exhibit P-8 requisition, he sent the incriminating material objects to the Chemical Examiner, after separately packing them under the original of Exhibit P-9 letter. Exhibit P-b and P-li are. the reports of the Chemical Examiner and the Serologist respectively. (0) On 10. 8. 1985, P. W. 12 examined P. W. S. After completing the formalities of the investigation, he laid a final report before the Judicial Second Class Magistrate No. III, Vellore on 1. 10. 1985 against the accused for an offence under section 302, I. P. C. appeared to have been committed by her. ( 3 ) LEARNED Sessions Judge, upon committal framed a charge under section 302, I. P. C. against the accused. ( 4 ) THE accused, when questioned as respects the charge framed against her, denied the same and claimed to be tried. ( 5 ) THE prosecution, in a bid to prove the charge against the accused, examined P. Ws. 1 to 12, filed Exhibits P-1 to P-22 and marked M. Os. 1 to ii. ( 6 ) THE accused, when questioned under section 313, Cr1. P. C. as respects incriminating circumstances appearing in evidence against her, denied the same. She would however state that her husband, the deceased very often resorted to picking up quarrel with the villagers; that when questioned about the same, he used to beat her mercilessly; that her husband was found dead inside the house; that she was sitting underneath a tree; that when the police case to the scene, she was threatened to admit the crime; that though she refused to admit the same, yet the police obtained her signature in a piece of paper and subsequently, she had been locked up in prison. She did not choose W examine any witnesses on her behalf. She did not choose W examine any witnesses on her behalf. ( 7 ) LEARNED Sessions Judge, on taking into consideration the materials placed before him and after hearing the arguments of respective learned Public Prosecutor and learned counsel for the defence, found the accused guilty under section 302, I. P. C. , convicted her there under and sentenced her to imprisonment for life. Hence this appeal. ( 8 ) LEARNED Counsel Mr. D. Krishnan, appearing for the appellant-accused would contend that even taking into account the case of the prosecution, as projected through the materials placed on record, as a gospel truth, it cannot be stated that the act of the accused inflicting certain cut injuries by a weapon like M. O. 1 on the neck of the deceased causing him instantaneous death could, by no stretch of imagination, be stated to be one done with any of the mens rea prescribed under any of the four clauses of section 300, I. P. C. , thereby punishable under section 302, I. P. C. and if at all, her act, in the facts and circumstances of the case, would fall under Exception 1 to section 300, I. P. C. , punishable under section 304, Part 1, I. P. C. , irrespective of the stand taken by the accused in her statement under section 313, Cr1. P. C. ( 9 ) LEARNED Additional Public Prosecutor Mr. S. Shanmugha Velayutham, as usual, with all sense of fairness, without exhibiting any inhibition of a persecutor but discharging the duties of a Public Prosecutor, in the way in which it ought to be done, affixed his seal of approval to the submission emerging from learned Counsel appearing for the other side. ( 10 ) THE facts, as narrated above, in the summation, are themselves so eloquent as to speak for themselves the circumstances under which the accused had been impelled to resort to inflict certain cuts on the neck of her beloved husband, resulting in his death on the fateful night in question. It is the case of the prosecution, as revealed by the testimony of P. Ws. It is the case of the prosecution, as revealed by the testimony of P. Ws. 3 and 8, that the matrimonial abode of the accused was always infested with storms, in the sense of the wife accused floating in the sea of the matrimonial abode, without finding out means to reach the shore of life, without having any calamitous situation having been caused to anyone of the members of the family. Though the deceased husband behaved as a normal human-being for about two months since marriage, yet he got a metamorphic change in his way of life in getting addicted to liquor, squandering all the monies he earned without giving sufficient money to the wife-accused to meet the necessary family expenses and even without making provision of money for such expenses. The trival and petti-fog dedness of the deceased is getting revealed by his resorting to merciless beating of his wife-accused for non preparation of a delicious food to be consumed by him, after heavy drink every day. The accused wife, resigned to her fate, was taking control of her passion all along and when she was unable to control it, she felt that it would be better for her to take a shelter once and for all in her parents house and with that end in view, she departed from the matrimonial abode and started living in her parents house. Her stay in her parents house rather proved to be ephemeral, as a result of the mediation effected by the well-wishers and she in fact had to necessarily return to the matrimonial abode as a devoted Hindu wife to live with her husband, the deceased despite cruelty she meted out at his hands, hoping that her husband would come to normally very soon, but her expectation went wrong and the torments and torture she had at the hands other husband-the deceased increased day-to-day and on the fateful night went to estatic heights. ( 11 ) AS already stated, he returned to the house at about 8 p. m. fully drunk and when raghi food was served, he was unable to tolerate the conduct of his wife-the accused in preparation of such food and went to the extent of beating her, just like a beast, with a heavy stick like M. O. 2 on her back, besides resorting to fist her on her left eye by catching hold of her hands in such a violent fashion breaking the bangles she wore in her hands. His activity did not come to a grinding halt, but it posed an imminence of threat of danger to her life by his picking out a lethal weapon like M. O. 1 KODUVAL placing it by his bed-side and started sleeping with the poser that there is every likelihood of her being recoiling in her mind although her marital life with the deceased, which had been controlled by her all along, emerged to the surface in a renewed vigour by the lawless act of her husband-the deceased beating her for nothing in a- merciless fashion with the weapon life M. O. 28 accompanied by fisting her and breaking her bangles, with a poser of threat of dier consequences at his hands of her being butchered by a weapon like M. O. 1, with the result, she lost the power of self-control and caused the death of her husband by the same weapon, M. O. 1, which the deceased was having to mangles her to death. In such situation, we have no reservation in accepting the case of the prosecution, as revealed by Exhibit P-1, that she cut the deceased on account of the sudden grave provocation caused by the deceased and also on accused of the sustained provocation the accused had been nurturing for a long period because of the conduct of the deceased in subjecting her to all sorts of cruelty for nothing. We are also of the view that if she had not resorted to cut the deceased on that night, there was every plausibility of her being butchered to death by her husband-the deceased, with M. O. 1. We are also of the view that if she had not resorted to cut the deceased on that night, there was every plausibility of her being butchered to death by her husband-the deceased, with M. O. 1. We are, therefore, of the view that the act of the appellant accused, under such circumstances, would squarely fall under Exception I to section 300, I. P. C. and if it is so, she is not liable to be punished under section 302, I. P. C. The conviction and sentence under section 302, I. P. C. , as imposed on her by the Court below, are therefore, set aside and instead, she is found guilty under section 304, Part I, I. P. C. and convicted there under. ( 12 ) COMING to the question of sentence, it transpires that the accused had been languishing in prison on and from 2. 8. 1985, the date on which she had been arrested and she had been ordered to be released on bail by this Court, subsequent to the filing of this appeal on 11. 3. 1986. We are not in a position to note on what date, she had been freed from prison on her furnishing sureties, as ordered by this Court. It is thus certain that she had been in prison for a period of at least seven months and ten days on and from 2. 8. 1985 till 11. 3. 1986, the date on which she had been ordered to be released on bail. If she is sent to prison again, it transpires that there is none to take care of her female child now aged about seven to eight years, who had already lost her father, under tragic circumstances. Taking into consideration the welfare of the female child and also the circumstances under which the deceased had been done to death, we are of the view that it will not be besides justice to sentence her to imprisonment to the period already undergone by her, and sentence her accordingly. ( 13 ) THE appeal is thus disposed of. Appeal allowed accordingly.