The Allahabad High Court on Monday upheld the conviction and life sentence of a man for strangulating his live-in partner, her mother and her two minor children to death in Hardoi in 2009, holding that the prosecution had proved his guilt beyond reasonable doubt through a complete chain of circumstantial evidence.
A Division Bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary dismissed the appeal filed by Vinay Pratap Singh alias Bablu and affirmed the 2014 trial court judgment convicting him under Sections 302, 307 and 404 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(2)(5) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
According to the prosecution, Babita, an Anganwadi worker, had been living with her mother and two children after her husband’s death. The appellant had been residing with her in a live-in relationship for nearly one and a half years. Following an alleged quarrel on the night of June 23-24, 2009, Babita, her mother and the two children were found dead with cloth nooses around their necks. Post-mortem reports confirmed death by ante-mortem ligature strangulation.
Before the High Court, the appellant argued that the case rested solely on circumstantial evidence, questioned the “last seen” theory and recoveries, and claimed false implication due to a property dispute.
Rejecting these contentions, the Court held that the prosecution had established every incriminating circumstance. It relied on consistent testimony showing that the appellant lived with the deceased, evidence that a neighbour witnessed a quarrel between the couple on the night before the murders, and the appellant’s own admission regarding his relationship with Babita.
The Bench also found that the prosecution had proved motive, noting evidence that the appellant wanted to marry Babita while she was unwilling and that disputes frequently arose because he was unemployed and financially dependent on her. It further relied on the recovery of the deceased’s belongings at the appellant’s instance, his conduct after the incident, and the medical evidence.
Referring to Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act, the Court held that once the prosecution established the foundational facts, the burden shifted to the appellant to explain circumstances especially within his knowledge, which he failed to do. His plea of false implication remained unsupported by evidence.
Finding the chain of circumstances complete and inconsistent with any hypothesis of innocence, the High Court held that the prosecution had proved the appellant’s guilt “beyond the pale of doubt” and found no illegality in the trial court’s judgment. It accordingly dismissed the appeal and upheld the life sentence.
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