UNTHINKABLE: Woman proved innocent after 14 years in jail in murder case

 

 

After serving full sentence of 14 years in a murder case, the accused woman was proved innocent. Not only this, the victim’s sister-in-law also had to stay in jail for three and a half months with her two innocent children. The division bench headed by Justice GS Ahluwalia of the High Court has ordered immediate release of the appellant woman. Along with this, the division bench has condemned police investigation and ordered to register a case against eleven witnesses of the prosecution. Actually, this appeal in the High Court was filed by Khandwa resident Sarjubai and her sister-in-law Bhuri Bai in year 2010 against the court sentencing them to life imprisonment for the murder of their brother-in-law. According to the case, appellant Sarju started living with her brother-in-law Hari alias Bhaggu after the death of her husband.

 

There was a dispute between the two 15 days before the incident, due to which Hari attacked her with a sharp weapon. According to the prosecution, on September 21, 2008, Hari alias Bhaggu was found hanging from a noose on a neem tree. After bringing him down, the appellant and his sister-in-law Bhuri Bai took him to the hospital in a bullock cart. After examining him in the hospital, he was declared dead. The entire case was suspicious and on observing the entire case, the court found that the police had found an empty bottle of pesticide in the verandah of the appellant. People who do farming in the village have pesticides in their homes. Police kept investigating on the basis of prosecution witnesses in the entire investigation. The single bench had said in its order that due to enmity, the witnesses got a case of murder registered against two women, while they were innocent. Appellant’s sister-in-law was pregnant and she had to go to jail with her one-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.

 

The children were not at fault in the entire case. After about three and a half months, she got bail. The appellant has been imprisoned in Central Jail for last 14 years. The concerned court also did not consider this issue. The only weapon of the accused is cross-examination. It was told by Central Jail Indore that the woman’s sentence of 14 years is about to be completed. The division bench has issued orders to release the appellant woman while ordering to register a case against prosecution witnesses, the deceased’s mother Sukma Bai, sister Phool Bai, Sevanti Bai, brother Suresh, police station in-charge BS Chauhan, police personnel SR Rawat and NK Suryavanshi.