Read Time: 09 minutes

A Thrissur Court while showing leniency to a woman working at a convent & accused of murdering her own child after delivery by allegedly putting child in bucket and cutting off air supply, has convicted the woman under section 304 (Culpable Homicide not amounting to murder) and set off 4 years off her 5 year sentence.

The Kerala Court has convicted the woman of culpable homicide not amounting to murder because of the lack of evidence to suggest that the murder of the child was committed by the woman. The Court Said that the murder charges did not sustain against the Convent woman, considering the fact that there was no direct evidence forthcoming to bring out the cause of death of the baby.

"The death of the child took place within the 4 walls of the bathroom. It was only natural that no independent witness would have witnessed the manner in which the child died. This is a case which depends upon circumstantial evidence alone," the Court added.

The facts of the case state that the woman working at Fathima Matha Convent was impregnated due to an illicit relationship and hid her pregnancy from the Nuns at the Convent as well as from a doctor, as a result of which she delivered her own baby in the bathroom of the Convent.

She was later found by one of the witnesses in the bathroom, lying in a pool of blood with a dead baby inside a bucket.

The final investigation report alleged that the baby was murdered by the accused and after she delivered the child, she put the child inside the bucket and put a cloth over the bucket to cut off air supply.

However, the court noted that the cloth was not seized in evidence and put forth by the prosecution before Court.

Further to this, Court also noted that the woman hid pregnancy from the doctor and no one in the Convent was aware of the pregnancy.

Pertinently, the child born was not premature. 

"It is recorded in Ext.P15 certificate of postmortem examination that the child was having crown­heel length of 45 centimeter and weight of 2.55 kg. The said measurements indicate that the child was a fully grown child. Therefore, any possibility of premature delivery can be safely ruled out," Court said.

Reasons for Conviction under Section 304 (Culpable Homicide not amounting to murder) as against Section 300 (Murder):

Court said,

"I take note of the fact that the delivery was held in a crude manner within a bathroom and without any medical aid or external aid. There is every possibility that the child would have sustained injuries due to fall immediately after the child came out of the womb and the body of the mother. In the above context, I also take note of the fact as brought out by the evidence of PW1 and PW4 that the said witnesses saw the accused in a partially unconscious condition and in pool of blood. I do agree that there is the possibility that the accused being a courageous woman endured the pain and trauma at the time of delivery and inflicted injuries on the child after the child was born. But, there is also the possibility that the child sustained the injuries due to fall immediately after the child was born. When two views are possible, the one favourable to the accused has to be taken."

The court however rejected the contention of the accused that the pregnancy was an unexpected one and added that to deliver the baby without any medical aid pointed to a possibility of death of child, which was to be imputed to the accused.

"The accused would have been aware about the advanced stage of her pregnancy and the certainty that the delivery was impending. The accused who would have been aware about the stage of her pregnancy would not have been surprised by the delivery. Her contention that the delivery was unexpected does not look believable or probable and has to be rejected"
- Court

Reasons for setting off sentence of accused:

The Kerala Court took the decision to set off her sentence after considering the number of years already served in detention and her social and financial background. "She belongs to the lower strata of society. After taking into consideration the said circumstances, I am inclined to show leniency to the accused in the question of sentence," the Court said.