Investigation Was Anything But Scientific: Allahabad High Court Acquits Rape Murder Accused, Sets Aside Death Penalty

Case: Upendra v. State of U.P.

Coram: Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Sameer Jain

Case No.: Capital Cases No. – 4 Of 2020

Court Observation: “…she is just a chance witness; she does not state that she reached the place of occurrence on hearing shrieks or cries; she gives no descriptions of resistance being offered by the deceased; she gives no description of how the deceased was murdered; she states that information of the incident was given to the police and PW-1 on the day of the incident, which is incorrect, rather, she gave information next day, after cremation; and her conduct of returning back home and then going again to break the news to PW-1 appears unnatural…Either she just saw what is disclosed in the FIR lodged by PW-1, that is, two unknown men taking the deceased into sugarcane field, or she is spinning a story.”

“Most importantly, blood and other biological material was not collected from the accused for DNA profiling as per the requirement of section 53-A CrPC. It is difficult to accept that if the accused-appellant had committed rape and had left his trouser on the spot, there would be no material available for DNA profiling. This raises a question regarding the bona fides of the investigation… Further, the rape of an aged woman, who is a stranger to the accused, baffles us. It was therefore a case where the investigating agency ought to have been diligent and circumspect because of the fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that fouler the crime stricter the proof. But, here, in the age of scientific advancement, the investigation was anything but scientific,” the Court observed as it concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the appellant beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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Keywords

Rape, Murder