In Brief
The appellants Chaman, Rakesh Kumar (Mota), and Sukhbeer were convicted of abducting and murdering Jagram in June 1996. They visited his house twice seeking his son Vinod (whom they suspected of killing Chaman's son), and on the second visit forcibly took Jagram away. His decomposed body was found 3–4 days later. The Supreme Court upheld their conviction, holding that the proved abduction of a victim followed by discovery of his murdered body within days establishes a strong inference of the abductors' guilt. The appellants' complete failure to explain what happened to Jagram during his time in their custody attracted the presumption under Section 106 of the Evidence Act. The absence of visible injuries on the decomposed body did not negate the medical opinion of death by asphyxia. The appeal was dismissed and the sentence of life imprisonment upheld.
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