Calcutta HC rules out murder in 2012 burning death, upholds acquittal of four

Kolkata: Upholding the trial court’s acquittal of four persons, the Calcutta High Court has ruled that the 2012 burning death of a woman in Bankura was not proved to be murder.

The Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi said the prosecution failed to show that the woman died due to smothering, making the homicide allegation unsustainable.

According to the case record, the woman suffered burn injuries at her matrimonial home on June 19, 2012, and was taken first to the Sub-Divisional Hospital and then to the Medical College, where she was declared clinically dead at 12:20 pm.

The prosecution alleged that she had been smothered by two or three assailants before being set on fire, relying mainly on the autopsy report and the later testimony of her two minor children. The trial court had acquitted the accused in 2019, and the High Court was examining the appeal against that acquittal.

The High Court found that medical documents created during treatment contradicted the smothering claim. Doctors at both hospitals noted that the woman was alive on admission.

This timeline, the court said, “does not fit” with the post-mortem opinion that smothering had occurred before burning. Since treatment records made while the patient was alive carry greater evidentiary value, the Bench held that the post-mortem opinion “could not be accepted”.

The court also noted that several neighbours and local villagers turned hostile or gave no support to the prosecution’s version. Allegations of cruelty or assault in the matrimonial home remained unproved due to lack of independent corroboration.

The testimony of the victim’s two young children was treated with caution. They had been living away from the home since the incident and deposed nearly five years later. The court said the possibility of tutoring could not be ruled out, and their statements were unsupported by neutral or medical evidence.

Since the prosecution failed to establish even a basic case of homicide, the High Court held that no burden could shift to the accused. It found that the trial court’s view was a “possible and reasonable” interpretation of the evidence and declined to interfere.

The appeal was dismissed along with all connected applications.