Kerala HC acquits woman sentenced to life for murder of newborn child

The Kerala High Court has acquitted a woman who earlier was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court. She was accused of murdering her newborn child in 2009 and disposing of the body at an abandoned property, reported PTI on August 4.

A bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar said that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge of murder against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.

The High Court also said that the prosecution "miserably failed" to prove the alleged motive to conceal the illegitimacy of the pregnancy as the accused's sister-in-law and a neighbour were aware she was carrying.

"If that be so, the alleged motive for the concealment of the illegitimate pregnancy and the consequential murder of the newborn child cannot be believed. Furthermore, there are several missing links in the chain of circumstantial evidence. The weapon allegedly used for strangulation was not recovered by the police.

"Likewise, the weapon used for inflicting cut injury on the child was also not recovered by the prosecution. The possibility of intervention by a third party in the commission of the crime cannot be ruled out in the case on hand," the bench said.

It also said that there was no material to show that the accused was capable of walking about 100 meters, after giving birth, to the nearby abandoned property to dispose of the body.

The High Court further said that she was not seen walking to or returning from the nearby property and there was no evidence to explain how such an act was carried out unnoticed by anyone.

"In the light of the above discussion, we are of the view that the evidence adduced by the prosecution is deficient to sustain a conviction against the accused," the bench said.

It was also of the view that the available evidence was capable of arriving at both the conclusions: one, pointing out the guilt of the accused and the other, pointing to her innocence.

"Considering the entire facts and circumstances and the evidence of the case, we are of the considered opinion that the accused is entitled to get the benefit of doubt. The appeal succeeds".

"The appellant/accused is hereby acquitted. She shall be released forthwith, if her custody is not required in any other case," the bench said.

The woman, in her appeal, had claimed that she was falsely implicated in the case by her husband as he wanted to marry someone else.

She had claimed that on July 11, 2009, she experienced abdominal pains when she went to the bathroom, which is situated outside the house, had profuse bleeding and fainted.

When she regained her senses, she found herself in a hospital and realised that she had lost the child; the woman had claimed and contended that she did not commit the infanticide.

The prosecution had contended that the woman murdered the baby to conceal her pregnancy and its illegitimacy.

(With inputs from PTI)