‘Prosecution failed to prove beyond doubt…’: Gujarat court while acquitting principal of rape, murder charges in six-year-old’s death
Judgment came seven months after the Class 1 tribal student was found dead on the premises of a government primary school in Gujarat's Dahod on September 19, 2024
The court accepted the defence submission from the cross examination of the medical experts that the injuries reported on the victim were “non fatal” in nature
The prosecution has “failed to prove beyond doubt the allegations of sexual assault or the intention to murder”, said a Special POCSO Court in Dahod earlier this week as it acquitted a school principal of murder and rape charges in the death of a six-year-old student whose body was found on the premises of a government primary school in the district on September 19 last year.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge HH Thakkar, though, convicted and sentenced the accused to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, illegal confinement and destruction of evidence.
While the prosecution had placed heavy reliance on the final cause of death in the official postmortem report as “asphyxiation from smothering”, the court verdict held “it had been established that the girl died due to asphyxiation after being locked in the vehicle of the principal for over four hours”, according to the order that was made public Thursday.
Stating that the prosecution’s case was based on circumstantial evidence as there were no eyewitness to the case, the court said that “…there has to be evidence beyond doubt to prove that the accused has committed the crime… even the conduct of the accused after the incident can be taken as a link (to establish the crime) but it cannot be said to be enough evidence on its own.”
The prosecution had submitted that the epithelial cells of the victim were found on the clothes of the accused even though the latter had managed to send his vehicle for a wash to his son’s residence in Godhra, where he also hid his clothes.
The court accepted the defence submission from the cross examination of the medical experts that the injuries reported on the victim were “non fatal” in nature and “the dried blood could be due to injury sustained while struggling to come out of the locked car”.
The court said, “The prosecution has submitted that the accused pulled the victim to the front seat… causing her to vomit but no vomit stains have been found on the front seat or the footrest of the car… The medical examination of the accused has not indicated any injury marks on his skin or private parts to support the prosecution case…”
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The court said that the prosecution could not find any witness to prove that the accused had parked the vehicle in a deserted location near a health centre on the route to the school. The court said that the prosecution had failed to prove the theory as “it does not appear that there would be enough time to (execute the crime) from the time the accused picked the victim in his car after 10 am to reaching the school premises before 10.30am…”
The judgment stated that the evidence had proven that the victim travelled in the car of the principal and was found dead after school hours inside a locked car. “The accused took the victim into his car after 10 am and reached the school… no one saw the victim until her body was found. During that time, she died of asphyxiation… In the cross-examination, the medical officer admitted that being locked in a vehicle, with no oxygen supply for four to six hours, can be fatal for a six-year-old child…,” it added.
“It has been sufficiently proved that the child was left in the closed vehicle from about 10 am to the time that the school dispersed, causing her death due to asphyxiation… The medical officer has accepted in the cross-examination that the injuries noticed on her lips and the blood clot on her front teeth could be caused due to the struggle while being locked inside a vehicle, although he denied the possibility of it… But he admitted that the injuries were not of fatal nature…” the court said. “The evidence produced by the prosecution proves that while attempting to exit from a closed vehicle, (the victim) could have fallen or even collided with some parts of the vehicle causing such injuries,” according to the judgment.
The court also rejected the “last seen with theory” of the prosecution and said, “The prosecution’s case failed to prove that the accused had intended to murder the victim, however, it is clear from the conduct of the accused during the crime and after the crime that he was aware that if the victim is left in the closed vehicle, it could be fatal…”
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The court considered the evidence of the prosecution under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Section 105 Part B (Culpable Homicide not amounting to murder) against the accused, sentencing him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment, and also for causing disappearance of evidence, rejecting the charges of murder and sexual assault invoked in the FIR. “In such circumstances, the accused can be convicted and sentenced without revising the chargesheet…,” it said.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Nair told The Indian Express: “The prosecution’s case was backed by medical evidence, DNA tests, voice spectrography as well as prosecution witnesses — none of whom turned hostile in the entire trial and supported the prosecution case completely. All this clearly indicates the motive to kill the child so that she could not narrate (to anyone) the sexual assault. The evidence clearly pointed towards the suspicious conduct of the accused to cover up the ghastly crime. We are studying the details of the order to understand the differing view of the court. Accordingly, a further decision will be taken on appeal against the trial court judgment.”
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
Expertise:
Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including:
Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground.
Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure.
Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case).
Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions.
Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... Read More
