Woman jailed for killing 4-yr-old son

Holding as “unusual” the conduct of a mother, the Supreme Court has confirmed the life sentence on a woman who axed to death her four-year-old son.

Holding as “unusual” the conduct of a mother, the Supreme Court has confirmed the life sentence on a woman who axed to death her four-year-old son.

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“Motherhood is one of the most precious gifts endowed upon mankind and there is no relationship more pristine and pure than that of a mother and her child,” a bench of justices P. Sathasivam and HL Dattu observed in a judgement.

The apex court passed the judgment while dismissing the appeal of a tribal woman Satna Bai, charged with axing to death her son Kannilal in Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur district on August 18, 1996.

“The appellant was found standing near the body of her son with a bloodstained axe in her hand. The normal reaction for any mother would have been to go hysterical and clutch the body of her son. But, what is the reaction of a mother in the present case?... The accused tried to flee...before being restrained,” the court said.

Though there was no direct evidence, the prosecution relied on the evidence of the accused’s relatives Heera Bai his wife Balobai who on hearing shrieks rushed to the accused’s house and found Satna Bai standing near the body with a blood stained axe and clothes.

The bench said this kind of reaction and lack of remorse would not have been forthcoming had she been innocent as claimed.

“In our view this is an unusual case and therefore the plea that a mother is not capable of killing her own son in the absence of any evidence contrary cannot be accepted,” the court said.