A 24-year-old woman, who smashed the head of her 40-day-old girl child because she was being taunted by her relatives and neighbours for having delivered a second girl child, will have to remain behind bars for life, as the Bombay high court, on Tuesday, upheld the lower court order convicting and sentencing her to life imprisonment.
A 24-year-old woman, who smashed the head of her 40-day-old girl child because she was being taunted by her relatives and neighbours for having delivered a second girl child, will have to remain behind bars for life, as the Bombay high court, on Tuesday, upheld the lower court order convicting and sentencing her to life imprisonment.
A division bench of justices VK Tahilramani and IK Jain, convicting Rohini Kiran Ahire, observed: "Facts in the (prosecution) case show disturbing factors in the society and its biased approach towards the female child." It also opined that the "trial court has not given (her) capital punishment but taken a lenient view and given life imprisonment."
The bench, relying on the confessional statement the accused had given the judicial magistrate first class, held that the lower court conviction could not be faulted, and dismissed Rohini's appeal challenging the conviction.
As per the prosecution, the accused was 22-years-old when the incident took place on October 1, 2011. She was at her parents house after delivering the child. She had alleged that two people entered her house seeking drinking water when she was alone with the child. However, they were thieves who demanded that she hand over the cupboard keys. When she refused, they first broke the glass of the cupboard, and later smashed the head of the infant with a stone.
But the police didn't buy her story, and on questioning her, she confessed to the crime. She was booked under section 302 of Indian Penal Code and arrested.
The prosecution examined over six witnesses. Rohini denied the charges, claiming she had been falsely implicated. The trial court, after considering all the evidence, convicted her on October 10, 2013. It was challenged in the high court.
In HC, public prosecutor VR Bhosale opposed the appeal arguing that the accused had not made out a case for getting relief. Circumstantial evidence and her motive as proved by the prosecution, proved her guilt, he held.
The defense however argued that her confessional statement had been made under duress and had not been recorded by the magistrate in the presence of a lawyer. It was also argued that the child had fallen from the swing and sustained injuries. HC however, dismissed all these arguments.
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