In Brief
The appellant was convicted of murdering Poshakka (his de facto wife) under Section 302 IPC based on evidence that he beat her severely during the night of 23–24 August 2001, causing her death the next day. The appeal challenged this, arguing strangulation caused death and that the prosecution case was false. The Court accepted that the appellant's blows caused Poshakka's death but found insufficient evidence of intention to kill—she had woken, reported the beating, and survived until evening before dying hours after eating heavily. The Court converted the conviction to Section 304 Part-II IPC (causing death by negligence) and released the appellant, having already served sixteen years in prison.
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