The Allahabad High Court has acquitted a woman, who was sentenced to death for killing her three children, observing that the prosecution has failed to establish her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The court allowed the appeal filed by both the accused and set aside the lower court’s judgement by which Ashish was sentenced to life imprisonment while Priyanka was awarded death sentence under Section 302 IPC.
The court found that the testimony of the eight-year-old surviving child witness suffered from “irreconcilable contradictions” and exhibited “clear hallmarks of tutoring”. A gram pradhan took him home where he narrated the incident following which the pradhan informed the police, according to Sonu. He had also stated that Manish, the first informant, was his uncle, and he had told him about the incident, and he had got the FIR lodged.
Priyanka had taken her four sons to a bridge over the Sengur river at around 5 am in collusion with Ashish, with whom she had an illicit relationship, and wanted to get rid of the children so that they could continue their relationship, according to FIR.
High Court Acquits Two in Child Death Case
The high court has acquitted Priyanka and Ashish, who were previously sentenced for the deaths of three children. Priyanka was sentenced to death, while Ashish received a life sentence. Following the high court’s ruling, both are to be released immediately unless they are wanted in other cases.
This case involves the tragic deaths of Madhav (6), Aditya (5), and Mangal (4), whose bodies were discovered in the Sengur River in Auraiya on June 27, 2024.
