HC acquits woman accused of murdering husband, slams cops

Madurai: A case cannot be decided merely by assumption, Madras high court observed while criticising the police and the principal district and sessions court in Pudukottai for failing to take steps to establish the identity of a body which was found in a well. The court then set aside the conviction and life sentence imposed on a woman who was accused of murdering her husband in Pudukottai district in 2021.The court was hearing the appeal preferred by a woman (appellant) challenging the order of the principal district and sessions court in Pudukottai.The case of the prosecution is that the deceased and the appellant are husband and wife. She was not interested in marrying the deceased. After marriage, there was frequent quarrelling between the couple. In 2021, the appellant was alleged to have murdered her husband when he was sleeping and dumped the body in a nearby well.The Athanakkottai police registered a missing man case and were investigating. As a foul odour was emanating from the well, the villagers informed the same to the VAO, who alerted the police. Police officials found a body in the well. Thereafter, the appellant confessed to the crime. In 2022, the trial court convicted and sentenced the appellant to life imprisonment. Challenging the same, she preferred an appeal in 2023.A division bench of justice N Anand Venkatesh and justice P Dhanabal observed that the mother of the deceased identified the body as her son. This is the only evidence available insofar as the identity of the deceased is concerned. The judges observed that the doctor stated that the entire body was in a highly decomposed state. The doctor further stated that the face of the corpse was identifiable. This statement is unsustainable, since the photographs clearly established that the face was not identifiable and it had decomposed very badly. The only manner in which the identity could have been established is by sending the body for DNA analysis. The police, for some reason, did not send it for DNA analysis. This proved fatal to the case.The court held that the prosecution failed to establish that the body was the appellant's husband. In view of the same, it will be highly risky to go on an assumption and decide the case. The judges observed that this is one of those peculiar cases where the investigating officer failed in his duty to establish the identity of the deceased in spite of the samples collected by the doctor being handed over to the police to send for DNA analysis, and it was not done. The court must also equally blame the trial court for proceeding further on assumptions rather than insisting on DNA analysis and a report to clinch the identity of the deceased. Hence, the judges set aside the conviction and life sentence imposed by the trial court on the appellant and acquitted the woman of all the charges.