In Brief
A 20-year-old woman (A-4) unwilling to marry her fiancé plotted with three accomplices—her close friend (A-1), his cousin (A-3), and a teenager (A-2)—to murder her fiancé on 3 December 2003. The Supreme Court upheld their life sentences under Section 302 IPC read with Section 120-B IPC, and Section 201 IPC for A-4 alone, rejecting eyewitness testimony but relying entirely on circumstantial evidence: voluminous Call Detail Records showing coordinated communications, A-4's motive established through her close confidant's testimony, recovery of the murder weapon, and the accused's suspicious conduct including destruction of phone messages. The Court found A-4's complicity evident from her constant messaging with A-1 while with the deceased, sudden communication silence after the murder, and remaining uninjured despite claiming both were attacked. However, the Court granted all appellants eight weeks to petition the Governor for pardon under Article 161, viewing their reformation as possible given their prison conduct and societal factors contributing to their crimes.
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