35 years on, man acquitted of 11-year-old boy’s murder in Chandigarh
After being accused of murdering a minor boy during a robbery in 1989, Anand Kumar had remained on the run, leading to him being declared a proclaimed offender
Over 35 years after a murder case was registered against him when he was 24 years old, a man, now 61, has been acquitted by a Chandigarh court due to lack of evidence.
After being accused of murdering an 11-year-old boy during a robbery in 1989, Anand Kumar had remained on the run, leading to him being declared a proclaimed offender (PO).
He was eventually arrested in 2024, leading to the commencement of the trial.
Months later, the court of additional district judge Ashwini Kumar acquitted Anand.
The case against Anand was initially registered by the Sector 3 police station in 1989.
According to the prosecution’s case, in January 1989, an 11-year-old boy named Omkar was brutally murdered in the forest area of Kambwala village in Chandigarh.
The victim’s mother, Vidhyavati, had reported to the police that she had been at her maternal uncle’s house in Panchkula for five days prior to the incident. On the day of the murder, her son Omkar came to pick her up.
While they were returning to Kaimbwala, they encountered Anand and a minor boy, who were residents of the same village. Vidhyavati stated that when she was collecting wood behind Sukhna Lake, the minor boy demanded her jewellery. Upon her refusal, both the boy and Anand allegedly attacked her with knives.
Vidhyavati managed to escape the attack, but her son was murdered at the scene.
Subsequently, the police registered a case against Anand and the minor for murder and robbery. Following the incident, both accused absconded and were declared fugitives by the court a few months later.
The minor was apprehended in 2001. As he was a juvenile at the time of the crime, his case was processed in the juvenile court, where he was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
It was not until 2024 that Anand was finally arrested and his trial began in the regular court. Chief legal aid advocate Arvind Sandhu represented him in the court.
During the trial, a crucial turn occurred when the main witness, Vidyavati, failed to identify Anand in court.
She also informed the court that she had been unconscious for two days following the traumatic incident and was unaware of the specifics documented in the initial FIR.
Furthermore, inconsistencies were found in her various statements, which ultimately benefited the defence’s case.
The court concluded that the prosecution had failed to present any solid and credible evidence linking Anand to the murder. Consequently, the court granted Anand the benefit of the doubt and ordered his acquittal after 35 years.
