Kerala HC Acquits Woman Sentenced to Life for Newborn's Murder, Cites Gaps in Evidence

The Kerala High Court has acquitted a woman who was serving a life sentence for allegedly murdering her newborn baby in 2009, holding that the prosecution failed to establish her guilt beyond reasonable doubt and that the chain of circumstantial evidence remained incomplete.

A Division Bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar allowed the woman's appeal against her conviction, observing that the prosecution had "miserably failed" to prove its case. The court directed that she be released immediately if she is not required in connection with any other case.

According to the prosecution, the woman had delivered a baby in July 2009, strangled the newborn to conceal an allegedly illegitimate pregnancy, inflicted a cut injury, and dumped the body in a nearby abandoned property about 100 metres from her house.

The High Court, however, found significant gaps in the prosecution's case. It noted that the alleged motive itself was doubtful because the woman's sister in law and a neighbour were already aware of her pregnancy. If others knew she was pregnant, the court said, the claim that she killed the baby to conceal the pregnancy became difficult to accept.

The bench also pointed out that investigators failed to recover either the alleged weapon used for strangulation or the weapon that caused the cut injury. It further observed that the possibility of a third party's involvement could not be ruled out.

The judges also questioned the prosecution's claim that the woman, immediately after childbirth, was physically capable of walking about 100 metres to dispose of the body. There was no evidence showing that anyone saw her going to or returning from the abandoned property, nor any explanation as to how such an act could have gone unnoticed.

The court concluded that the evidence was capable of supporting both guilt and innocence. Since the prosecution failed to complete the chain of circumstances required for conviction, the woman was entitled to the benefit of doubt and was acquitted.