Surat man gets life in jail for killing toddler daughter over paternity doubt

After going through the arguments from the defence and prosecution sides, including the case trial and the hearing of witnesses, 12th Additional Sessions Judge of Surat, B K Avashiya, passed an order convicting Vasava.

“The death penalty can be awarded only when such facts are proved that the accused has behaved in a very cruel manner or in the circumstances in which the crime was committed. If the crime committed is so brutal that it is considered to be the ‘rarest of the rare’, then the death penalty can be imposed,” said Judge Avashiya.

“The crime that has been proven against the accused is one of the most serious crimes against the human body, in which the death of a human being is caused, and the life is taken… In the present case, the accused has caused the death of his one and a half year old innocent daughter due to a mere suspicion,” Judge Avashiya said in the order.

“Therefore, taking into account the seriousness of the crime committed by the accused, the fact that he had a fight with the complainant (wife) at the time of the crime, the accused was under stress and the accused is not a habitual offender, taking into account all the mitigating and aggravating circumstances, the minimum punishment prescribed in the said Act for the crime proved is life imprisonment,” the judge said.

According to the prosecution, Vasava had returned home after spending around 15 days fishing in neighbouring Maharashtra and allegedly assaulted Kajalben over suspicions regarding her character. During the assault, the couple’s 18-month-old daughter began crying, after which Vasava allegedly attacked the child, accusing his wife of bearing another man’s child.

In her complaint lodged at the Kosamba Police Station, Kajalben alleged that Vasava beat the child on several parts of her body and later threw her to the floor. The following morning, while Vasava went missing, the child was found unresponsive and was declared dead by a local doctor.

Based on the complaint, the Kosamba police registered an FIR against Vasava under IPC sections related to murder, voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult, and criminal intimidation. He was arrested on May 2, 2020, and had remained lodged at Surat Central Jail as an undertrial prisoner during the trial.

The police filed a chargesheet in July 2020, relying on statements of eight witnesses and documentary evidence.

Additional Public Prosecutor Dipesh Dave said the prosecution was satisfied with the sentence awarded by the court.

Defence lawyer U B Rathod said, “We will go through the judgement and will later decide to challenge the order to higher courts.”