Court finds complete chain of circumstantial evidence through CCTV footage, last seen testimony, CDRs and recovery; says accused’s reformation not ruled out
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the conviction of Neelam for the murder of a 2-year-9-month-old girl child, but commuted her death sentence to rigorous imprisonment for 30 years without remission.
A Division Bench of Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj and Justice Ravinder Malik dismissed the accused’s appeal while partly allowing the death reference, holding that the prosecution had proved a complete chain of circumstantial evidence. The court said the child was last seen in the company of the accused in CCTV footage and witness accounts, and her body was later recovered from a vacant plot where she had allegedly been buried alive.
According to the prosecution, the child went missing on 28 November 2021 while playing outside her home in Ludhiana. CCTV footage from the neighbourhood and Safe City cameras showed the accused taking the child on her Activa scooter. A security guard at a nearby plot, Mulakh Raj, later testified that he saw the accused enter the vacant plot with the child and come out alone after about 10 minutes. The child’s body was subsequently recovered from the same plot, with sand in her mouth, nostrils and ears.
The court relied on medical evidence which showed death due to asphyxia caused by choking from a foreign body. It also accepted the prosecution’s electronic evidence, including CCTV footage and call detail records, holding that the Section 65-B certificates substantially complied with legal requirements. The bench ruled that objections to the mode of proof of electronic evidence cannot be raised for the first time in appeal when no such objection was taken during trial.
Rejecting the defence argument that the investigation was manipulated, the court said the alleged discrepancies in medical records and the timing of the FIR were satisfactorily explained. It held that the police response was consistent with the urgent need to locate the child and that the recovery of the shoes and the body from the plot supported the prosecution case.
On the question of sentence, however, the court declined to confirm the death penalty. While noting the crime was “gruesome and shocking,” the bench said the material on record did not establish that the accused was beyond reform or incapable of rehabilitation. The court took into account her jail conduct, social background, and absence of adverse behaviour in prison. It therefore commuted the death sentence under Section 302 IPC to rigorous imprisonment for 30 years without remission, along with a fine of Rs. 50,000.
The sentences under Sections 364 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code were maintained, and all sentences were directed to run concurrently.
Bottom Line:
Circumstantial evidence - Murder of minor child by burying her alive - Conviction can be sustained on complete chain comprising CCTV footage, last seen evidence, CDRs and recovery circumstances - Certificates under Section 65-B, Evidence Act, held valid and objection as to mode of proof cannot be raised for first time in appeal - Death sentence commuted to rigorous imprisonment for 30 years without remission as possibility of reformation not ruled out.
Statutory provision(s): Sections 302, 364, 201 IPC, Sections 3, 27,
State of Punjab v. Neelam, (Punjab And Haryana)(DB) : Law Finder Doc Id # 2984530
