India News | Wife Turns Hostile, Man Acquitted in Infant Daughter's Murder Case
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A court here has acquitted a man, who was tried for allegedly killing his infant daughter by strangulating and drowning her in 2019, saying the accused's wife had resiled from her allegations and turned hostile.
New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) A court here has acquitted a man, who was tried for allegedly killing his infant daughter by strangulating and drowning her in 2019, saying the accused's wife had resiled from her allegations and turned hostile.
Additional Sessions Judge Gautam Manan acquitted the man, saying there was no evidence to establish the accused's presence in the house at the time of the incident and no medical or forensic evidence linking him with the alleged murder.
The court was hearing a case against Mukesh, accused of murdering his 21-day-old daughter on September 6, 2019. According to the post-mortem report, the cause of death was "asphyxia caused by manual strangulation".
"Prosecution case rests upon the account of the incident given by prosecution witness Kiran who is the complainant of the case and mother of the deceased child. In her complaint, she alleged that when she went on her terrace she saw her child fully drenched and her husband accused Mukesh confessed that he had killed the infant by strangulating and drowning her," ASJ Manan said in a judgment dated August 24.
But while deposing in the court, Kiran did not support the allegations and instead testified that on seeing her daughter lying on the terrace floor she raised an alarm, following which her husband came to the spot, the judge said.
According to the prosecution, another witness Babita, the accused's niece, had also reached the terrace and saw the accused telling the complainant that he had killed the infant, the court noted. But she also resiled from her statement and did not support the prosecution's case, it said.
"Both prosecution witnesses have resiled from the allegations…They were declared hostile to the case of the prosecution and nothing incriminating against the accused could be elucidated in their cross-examination," the court said.
Three other witnesses, the accused's father, mother and brother did not depose about his presence in the house at the time of the incident, the court said, adding, there was no other material on record that could establish Mukesh's presence in the house.
It said, "There is no other medical or forensic evidence on record which connects the accused with the alleged crime," the court said.
"In the light of the testimony of the complainant and other prosecution witnesses which is exonerating the accused, it is held that the prosecution has failed to establish the charge against the accused. Accordingly, the accused Mukesh stands acquitted," the court said.
Bindapur police station had registered an FIR against Mukesh based on his wife's complaint.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)