Five-Month-Old’s Rape-Murder: Allahabad HC Confirms Cousin's Conviction, Commutes Death Penalty to Life-term

The Allahabad High Court has upheld the conviction of 27-year-old Premchandra @ Pappu Dixit for kidnapping, raping and murdering his five-month-old cousin in Lucknow in February 2020, but has commuted the death sentence imposed by the trial court to life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life without remission.

A bench of Justices Rajnish Kumar and Rajeev Singh tabled the verdict while deciding a death reference made by the trial court and a connected appeal filed by Premchandra. The trial court had, in September 2021, sentenced him to death for the offences under Sections 302 and 376(ka)(kha) of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act, and to life imprisonment under Section 364 IPC.

On 16 February 2020, the family of the complainant, Satya Prakash Dixit, attended a wedding at S.R. Marriage Lawn in Daud Nagar, Lucknow. According to the prosecution, the five-month-old child was taken from her mother’s arms by the accused, who was the complainant’s real nephew, on the pretext of playing. When he did not return for a long time, the family began searching and ultimately found the infant unconscious in a nearby open plot. She was taken to KGMU Trauma Centre, where she died early the next morning.

The FIR was lodged the same day at Police Station Madiyaon, and investigation led to recovery of the baby’s innerwear and other articles, preparation of site plans, and examination of several witnesses including the infant’s parents. The prosecution placed reliance on CCTV footage said to show the accused carrying the child out of the marriage lawn at 6:28 p.m. The investigating officer testified that the footage matched the clothes worn by the accused at the time of arrest.

During trial, medical witnesses and forensic reports confirmed sexual assault and injuries consistent with homicidal violence. The defence argued false implication due to enmity, challenged the timing of the FIR, disputed the CCTV evidence, and claimed that the accused had not attended the wedding at all. Two defence witnesses were examined.

Rejecting these arguments, the High Court held that the chain of circumstantial evidence was complete and pointed unerringly to the guilt of Premchandra. The bench found that the last-seen theory applied, as the child was last seen alive with Premchandra and was found dead within a short span of time, ruling out the possibility of any third-party intervention. Court also noted that the mother of the accused was present at the wedding along with the child’s mother, establishing familial proximity and confirming that Premchandra had access to the infant.

However, court observed that although the offence was undeniably brutal, the case was based on circumstantial evidence and lacked any indication of premeditation.

It further noted that the trial court had not considered reports from the probation officer, jail authorities or psychological evaluations before imposing the death penalty, and that Premchandra had no prior criminal record. These factors, the bench held, warranted commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment for the convict’s natural life without remission.

With these findings, the High Court partly allowed the convict’s appeal on the question of sentence, upheld his conviction and other sentences, and declined to confirm the death reference forwarded by the trial court.

Court directed that a copy of the judgment and the original record be transmitted to the trial court for compliance.

Case Title: State of U.P. vs. Premchandra @ Pappu Dixit

Order Date: November 18, 2025

Bench: Justices Rajnish Kumar and Rajeev Singh