HC relief for woman serving life term for ‘killing son’

The Bombay high court (HC) has set free a 32-year-old labourer from Buldhana, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court, for killing her eight-year-old

The Bombay high court (HC) has set free a 32-year-old labourer from Buldhana, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court, for killing her eight-year-old son in 2017. The court, while passing its judgment on November 12, observed that an accused cannot be held guilty for failing to prove innocence.

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The convict, Shalini Gaikwad, was married for 13 years and had a daughter and a son. Her husband suspected her of having an extra-marital affair, owing to which the couple would often have heated arguments. In May 2017, the woman left her matrimonial home, while her children stayed with her husband.

On March 28, 2018, her son’s body was found in a well near his home. The Dhad police in Buldhana district booked the woman for his murder, primarily in view of the fact that two days before the child’s body was found, she had picked him up from school.

This year on May 29, a trial court convicted the woman for murder on the basis of circumstantial evidence, primarily based on the ‘last-seen’ theory – her daughter and school authorities had seen her taking the child with her. However, none of them could explain what had happened to the boy thereafter.

“Except for the evidence that the accused had taken the deceased on 26-3-2018 from the school in the morning, there is nothing on record to connect the accused for the offence charged against her,” said the bench.

The court also noticed that the woman used to meet her children regularly at school and would give them sweets and other eatables, and that there was nothing unusual in a mother taking her child along with her.