In Brief
A man was convicted of murdering his six-year-old stepdaughter after she went missing following a domestic dispute. The trial relied on three pieces of evidence: a neighbour saying the accused was last seen with the child, recovery of bone remnants that he allegedly led police to, and DNA testing of recovered bones that partially matched the biological parents. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction, finding serious investigative flaws. The arrest timing was unclear, the "last seen together" claim was unreliable, the missing complaint was delayed, and the accused was not actually in police custody when providing information about the bones. Although some bones matched via DNA, the skull did not. The Court held that the evidence was circumstantial, incomplete, and failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.