A local court acquitted a 37-year-old man facing trial for the murder of an elderly farmer in Pinjore, holding that the prosecution failed to establish his guilt beyond reasonable doubt due to a lack of scientific evidence and an incomplete chain of circumstances.
The accused, Randhir Singh alias Babli, of Khol Mola village in Pinjore, was booked under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in a case registered at Pinjore police station on July 1, 2022.
According to the prosecution, the complaint was lodged by Tarsem Singh, whose father Shankar Singh was found murdered in the family’s fields. Shankar had constructed two rooms in his fields and was living there with his wife.
Tarsem stated that on June 30, 2022, at around 8pm, he served dinner to his parents in the fields and returned home. The next morning, when he went to serve them tea, he found his father lying dead on a cot with blood splattered on the floor.
The complainant told police that his mother, who was stated to be mentally challenged, informed him that at around 3am, Randhir, allegedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs, entered the room, assaulted Shankar with a wooden stick and fled. The complainant also alleged that some cash belonging to his father was missing.
{{/usCountry}}The complainant told police that his mother, who was stated to be mentally challenged, informed him that at around 3am, Randhir, allegedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs, entered the room, assaulted Shankar with a wooden stick and fled. The complainant also alleged that some cash belonging to his father was missing.
{{/usCountry}}Police arrested Randhir on July 2, 2022. During investigation, police claimed that the wooden stick used in the crime was recovered from the accused’s house. The prosecution alleged that the accused disclosed he was an alcoholic and drug addict and used to consume liquor with the deceased. On the night of the incident, he allegedly demanded liquor from Shankar and, after being refused, attacked him with a wooden stick before fleeing with the weapon and cash.
However, while acquitting the accused on July 6, the court observed that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court noted that there was no eyewitness to the murder and no last-seen evidence connecting the accused with the crime. It further observed that fingerprints lifted from the recovered wooden stick were never matched with those of the accused.
The prosecution also informed the court that, as per the SHO’s report, no parcel related to the case had been sent to the DNA division for examination, prompting the court to remark that the investigation had not been conducted scientifically.
During the trial, investigating officer sub-inspector Zile Singh admitted in cross-examination that police did not recover any wooden stick or incriminating material from the accused’s house during the raid.
Assistant sub-inspector Murari Lal, who was associated with the investigation, also admitted that no independent witness was joined during the alleged recovery and that similar wooden sticks were commonly available in the market.
Observing that the alleged recovery of the weapon was doubtful and that no DNA profiling was conducted to link the weapon with the crime or the accused, the court held that the chain of circumstantial evidence remained incomplete.
“The chain of evidence is not complete so as to conclude that in all probabilities the offence was committed by the accused,” the court observed while extending the benefit of doubt and acquitting Randhir Singh.