Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has commuted the death sentence of a man convicted of raping and murdering a young woman in West Midnapore district in 2021, while acquitting two co-accused who were also convicted by the trial court.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi found that the prosecution had proved that Bikash Murmu alone raped and murdered the victim. However, the court held that the complicity of co-accused Chhotu Munda and Tapati Patra was not established beyond reasonable doubt.
According to the judgment, the incident took place on May 3, 2021, when the victim went to wash utensils after lunch and was later found lying dead in a store room of an abandoned house located behind her residence. The autopsy report recorded multiple injuries, including signs of manual strangulation, vaginal and anal penetration and bleeding from the private parts.
The court observed that all three accused were working as masons and labourer in the house of the victim’s family. Their presence at the location was confirmed by prosecution witnesses and admitted by the accused themselves during their examination under Section 313 CrPC. However, the court concluded that only Bikash Murmu’s involvement was established through evidence such as recovery of blood-stained clothing at his instance and a forensic report showing the presence of both his and the victim’s blood on his vest.
His DNA was also found to match material from the victim’s vaginal swab. The High Court held that there was no evidence of prior meeting of minds, common intention or conspiracy to involve the other two accused in the offence. It set aside their conviction under Sections 376D, 302, 120B and 448 of the IPC and ordered their release.
While affirming Bikash Murmu’s conviction for rape and murder, the bench ruled that the case did not fall under the ‘rarest of rare’ category to warrant the death penalty. Taking into account his age, background and jail conduct, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment without remission for 40 years.