In Brief
A 65-year-old mother-in-law found her five-year-old granddaughter dead on 21 June 2007, with the child's mother (appellant) present at the scene. The child died from strangulation with a saree. The appellant was arrested at a bus stand hours later. Despite discrepancies in the main witness's account, independent neighbours testified the appellant was with the dead child. The trial court and high court convicted the appellant under Section 302 IPC (murder). The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, holding that minor inconsistencies do not vitiate credible eyewitness testimony, the plea of alibi was rejected as unsubstantiated, and the appellant's failure to explain the circumstances of death under Section 106 of the Evidence Act was fatal to her defence. The chain of circumstantial evidence—last seen with child, recovered blood-stained saree, and medical evidence—proved murder beyond reasonable doubt.
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