On Tuesday, the High Court of Bombay upheld the conviction & life sentence of a widow who killed her new born daughter, purportedly to hide her relationship with a man which resulted in the pregnancy.
The division bench of Justices RD Dhanuka & Surendra Tavade upheld the conviction of Kamlabai Gharat after finding that the prosecution had proved the chain of circumstances against her beyond the shadow of reasonable doubt. There was nobody else except the appellant / accused to commit the murder of the said child.
The bench has directed Alibag sessions court to secure her presence & remand her in prison for serving the remainder prison term.
According to the prosecution, on Nov 10, 1993, a resident of Nhava Sheva in Uran found a newborn girl abandoned near Sheva bus stand & took the infant to his house.
The family then reported the matter to local police, who arrested Kamlabai after finding that she was pregnant. Police then took Kamlabai & the infant to the rural hospital in Uran, but later shifted them to Alibag Civil Hospital. However, Kamlabai strangled the girl in the hospital.
In 1995, the Sessions Court convicted Kamlabai for murder & sentenced her to life. She was, however, acquitted of the charge of abandoning the child.
The widow then moved the HC challenging the conviction.
On Tuesday, the bench dismissed the appeal & concluded that the prosecution had proved all the circumstances against the woman which include abandonment of the child, the physical condition of the child before the murder, the fact that the newborn was with the woman in both the hospitals.
The bench held that the prosecution has proven the homicidal death of the child & the fact that no one was around when the infant was killed except the convict. It also found that the woman had motive to commit the crime as she wanted to hide her relationship & the pregnancy which took place 8 years after the death of her husband.
Read Judgement
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