Overview
- The Division Bench of Justices Rajnish Kumar and Rajeev Singh affirmed convictions for kidnapping, rape under Section 376(ka)(kha) IPC read with Section 6 POCSO, and murder under Section 302 IPC.
- The court replaced the trial court’s death penalty with imprisonment for the remainder of the convict’s natural life without remission and confirmed the sentence under Section 364 IPC and fines.
- Judges found a complete circumstantial chain through last‑seen evidence, witness accounts, medical and post‑mortem findings, and the Investigating Officer’s testimony about CCTV footage despite a broken disc.
- Mitigating factors included the convict’s age at 27, absence of criminal history, and the trial court’s failure to obtain probation, jail, or psychological evaluations before imposing death.
- Defence claims of false implication, delayed or ante‑timed FIR, and unreliable CCTV evidence were rejected, and the High Court directed transmission of the judgment and record to the trial court for compliance.