Minor son not reliable witness; father acquitted in murder of wife

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: A man convicted for the murder of his wife by the trial court was acquitted by the High Court because the minor child of the couple was the only witness relied upon by the lower court.

Allowing the appeal filed by the convicted husband against the order of conviction, the High Court said, “It is safe and prudent to look for corroboration for the evidence of a child witness from the other evidence on record, because while giving evidence a child may give scope to his imagination and exaggerate his version or may develop cold feet and not tell the truth or may repeat what he has been asked to say not knowing the consequences of his deposition in the court. Careful evaluation of the evidence of a child witness in the background and context of other evidence on record is a must before the Court decides to rely upon it.” Suresh Mugera was married to Laxmi.

Allegedly on November 10, 2014, the couple had quarreled and Laxmi had jumped inot a well and committed suicide unable to tolerate her husband’s torture under the influence of alcohol.

Initially Mugera was booked under Section 498(A) (subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Later, it was found that Laxmi had died from injuries and Mugera was charged under Section 302 (murder). The trial court found him guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment under Section 302 and five years’ imprisonment under Section 498(A). Mugera’s appeal against the trial court’s 2017 judgement was heard by the Division Bench of Justice K Somashekar and Justice Rajesh Rai K.

In its recent judgement, the HC noticed that the trial court had relied only upon the witness of the minor son of Mugera and Laxmi to convict him.

"In the instant case, the prosecution has given more credentiality to the evidence of PW.12 who is the child witness and no other than the son of deceased and accused. Banking upon his evidence, the trial Court has come to the conclusion by rendering the conviction judgment. Therefore, in this appeal it requires re-appreciation of the evidence let in by the prosecution and so also, revisit the impugned judgment of conviction rendered by the trial Court, if not, the accused who is the gravamen of the accusation would be the sufferer and also there shall be miscarriage of justice to him,” the HC said.

Stressing the need for corroborative evidence when the child witness is the only other witness, the HC said, “The evidence of the child witness has to be subjected to closest scrutiny and can be accepted only if the court comes to the conclusion that the child understands the question put to him and he is capable of giving rational answers. A child witness, by reason of his tender age, is a pliable witness. He can be tutored easily either by threat, coercion or inducement.”

Acquitting Mugera, the HC said that “At a cursory glance of the evidence let in by the prosecution as well the impugned judgment rendered by the trial Court, there are inconsistencies and also contradictions and more so, suffering from infirmities.” (CrlA 1555/2017)