The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted four men who were sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two minor sisters in Haryana’s Sonipat district, holding that although the prosecution established that the two girls had been sexually assaulted and died primarily due to poisoning, it failed to establish the involvement of any of the four accused beyond reasonable doubt.
A Division Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Ramesh Chander Dimri allowed the criminal appeal filed by Arun, Phool Chand, Dukhan and Ram Suhag and set aside their convictions and sentences on all charges. The Court also dismissed the murder reference seeking confirmation of their death sentences and directed that the accused be immediately released, subject to furnishing personal bonds.
The four had been convicted in November 2023 for offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act, gang rape, murder, causing hurt by poison, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy. The trial court had imposed the death penalty for rape and murder on all four.
The High Court made an important distinction between proof of the crime and proof of the identity of its perpetrators. On examining the medical evidence, it found that the injuries sustained by both girls established sexual assault and that they most likely died primarily from poisoning. However, the evidence connecting the four accused to those offences was found insufficient. The Court observed:
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“An analysis of the entire evidence not only creates doubt about the involvement of any of the accused but also indicates the absence of scientific evidence against them. Given the above, although the prosecution is able to establish the commission of the offence of rape against both the victims, but it has failed to connect any of the accused as the perpetrator of rape. In light of judicial precedents and after careful analysis of the entire evidence and the record, the picture that emerges is hazy as to how these four persons were implicated, much worse given the death sentence, including to A-4 Ramsuhag.”
The Court also found inconsistencies in the victims’ mother’s statements. Her first version attributed the deaths to snakebite, while a later complaint named the accused and alleged rape and forcible poisoning. However, her Section 164 CrPC statement did not name them, and she did not implicate them during trial.
The Court further found that the DNA profile obtained from the parna did not match any of the accused. It also questioned its alleged recovery, noting that the cloth was already known to police and was recovered from the accused’s room rather than the place mentioned in the disclosure statements.
The Court also found that the prosecution failed to link the accused to the alleged forcible administration of poison. It noted that a poisonous liquid container had already been seized from the crime scene, while the prosecution later relied on a plastic bottle allegedly recovered through disclosure statements. The Court found the medical evidence insufficient and held that there was no evidence connecting the accused to the poison or its forcible administration.
The Court further held that the alleged disclosures did not satisfy the requirements of Section 27 of the Evidence Act. In particular, the parna was already known to the police, and its subsequent recovery could not therefore be treated as a discovery made solely at the accused’s instance.
Ultimately, the Bench held that the prosecution had not produced legally admissible evidence establishing the accused’s involvement beyond reasonable doubt.
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“Thus, the prosecution has failed to establish any legally admissible evidence connecting any of the four accused to the commission of any offence beyond a reasonable doubt, and they are therefore entitled to the benefit of the doubt. Consequently, the convictions and sentences of all four appellants on all charges are set aside, and they are acquitted of all charges.”
Accordingly, the Court allowed the criminal appeal, dismissed Murder Reference and ordered the process for the immediate release of all four accused.
