BENGALURU: Citing lack of evidence, the Karnataka HC has acquitted a woman accused of murdering her two-month-old baby by throwing her into a river outside Koratagere town. A trial court in Tumakuru held Kavitha guilty and awarded life imprisonment. She appealed against the verdict.
Woman acquitted of murdering baby
Citing "lack of corroboration of evidence" by the prosecution, the high court has acquitted a woman accused of murdering her two-month-old baby by throwing her into a river outside Koratagere town in August 2016.
The prosecution's case was that at around 2pm on August 24, 2016, Kavitha, a resident of Madakasira taluk in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, had come with her husband Manjunatha to Renuka Hospital in Koratagere town. They were seeking treatment for their baby girl who was suffering from some respiratory problem and epilepsy. At around 4pm, as she was not getting enough milk to feed the baby, Kavitha allegedly threw her into Suvarnamukhi river.
On July 22, 2017, a trial court in Tumakuru held Kavitha guilty and imposed on her life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000. She appealed against the verdict in the HC.
After perusing the evidence on record, a division bench headed by justice K Somashekar noted the importance of corroboration of evidence facilitated by the prosecution, and said it must be positive, cogent, consistent and probabilised that the accused had committed the murder.
The bench pointed out that Kavitha's husband Manjunatha, who is the complainant in the case, has been termed hostile by the prosecution and the trial court basically relied on the testimony of two doctors - Dr Mallikarjunaiah, who provided treatment to the deceased child, and Dr Rudramurthy, who conducted the autopsy.
"...Though 15 prosecution witnesses have been examined, no worthwhile evidence has been facilitated by the prosecution for securing the conviction of the accused for offence under section 302 of the IPC. Therefore, in this appeal, it requires intervention," the division bench observed while acquitting Kavitha.
