INDIA. SC UPHOLDS ACQUITTAL OF MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH

September 17, 2008: the Supreme Court in New Delhi, India, upheld the acquittal of a man sentenced to death by a sessions court for allegedly murdering a minor girl after she resisted his attempt to rape her. A three-judge bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam, concurred with the views of the Allahabad High Court which had earlier acquitted Raja alias Jalil on the ground that the extra-judicial confession of the accused was not voluntary and the circumstantial evidence was not sufficient to confirm the conviction.
The prosecution alleged that on October 17, 1994, Raja took the 11 year old girl away from her mother Sushila Devi on the pretext of seeking the girl's assistance in the paddy fields. He allegedly tried to sexually assault her, and killed her when she resisted.
Raja reportedly confessed his guilt after being beaten up by villagers. He was handed over to the police who claimed to have recovered the deceased's body from the field on the basis of the accused's disclosure. Based on the extra-judicial confession made by the accused, the Sessions Court sentenced him to death. But the High Court on reference acquitted the accused on the ground that the circumstantial evidence did not form a complete chain to fasten the guilt on the accused, upon which the State Government appealed in the apex court. (Sources: Press Trust of India, 17/09/2008)