Kolkata, Oct. 14 -- The Calcutta High Court has upheld the life sentence of Yeasin SK for raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl in Murshidabad in 2009, ruling that witnesses turning hostile during trial does not automatically erase their earlier incriminating statements.
A division bench of Justices Rajasekhar Mantha and Anuj Singh dismissed his appeal against the conviction and sentence imposed by a sessions court in 2015.
Yeasin was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for rape, with both terms to run concurrently.
The girl left home for her grandmother's house on the evening of February 1, 2009.
Her body was found hanging in a tin shed in a mango orchard the next morning.
The autopsy indicated sexual assault before death and identified throttling as the cause.
Two witnesses who had earlier implicated Yeasin turned hostile during trial. However, other witnesses testified that they had told them they saw him taking the girl away on a red ladies' bicycle. The court held that these statements, made before police arrived, could be considered alongside other evidence.
The bench also said a statement recorded before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code could not be casually discarded merely because the witness later retracted it.
It relied on circumstantial evidence, including the girl being last seen with Yeasin and the recovery of the bicycle near the body.
The court distinguished co-accused Royal Sheikh's case, noting that the evidence against him differed.
It directed the state to pay Rs 4 lakh in compensation to the victim's parents within seven days of communication of the judgment to the state. The trial court must also ensure recovery of the fines imposed, with any amount realised remitted to the parents.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.