HYDERABAD: A bench of the Telangana High Court has set aside the life sentence imposed by a trial court on one Peddagundela Pochaiah and ordered the police to release him immediately, unless he is required in any other case.
The VI-Additional District and Sessions Judge at Siddipet had on January 12, 2012 found Pochaiah, a resident of Peddagundavalli village in Dubbak mandal of Medak district, guilty of murdering his mother and causing the disappearance of evidence.
The prosecution alleged that Pochaiah strangulated his mother with a towel and hung her body from a custard apple tree to make it appear a suicide. The police investigation concluded that the cause of death was asphyxia due to pressure on neck structures, causing a hyoid bone fracture, which led to asphyxia, cardio-respiratory arrest, and death.
Pochaiah was arrested on February 4, 2013, and reportedly confessed. The police subsequently filed a charge sheet under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC.
However, the postmortem doctor testified that he could not definitively determine whether the death was homicidal or suicidal. This was not challenged by the prosecution, and no contradictory evidence was presented. The lack of clarity on the cause of death undermined the prosecution’s case, as a conviction under Section 302 IPC requires definitive proof of homicidal death. Additionally, there were no eyewitnesses to the incident.
After reviewing the case, the bench comprising Justice K. Surender and Justice J Sreenivas Rao concluded that the prosecution failed to prove the death was homicidal and ordered Pochaiah’s release. The doctor’s ambiguous testimony and the lack of supporting evidence led to the decision to set aside the conviction.