Rape accused acquitted of death sentence by Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted a rape and murder accused and nullified his death sentence, citing no concrete proof proving his crimes. A division bench of Justice Manoj Mishra and Justice Samir Jain, while accepting the appeal filed against the sentence, gave this order in the rape and murder case of a minor.

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has quashed the death sentence of Nazil, who was accused of raping and murdering a minor girl. The court said that the prosecution has failed to prove the crime and that the accused was sentenced without checking the veracity of the evidence. This order was given by the division bench of Justice Manoj Mishra and Justice Samir Jain, while accepting the appeal filed against the sentence.

The appeal stated that the forensic examination to detect the semen of the accused on the body of the deceased minor was not conducted, which could have been used as solid proof in the case. Many organs were also reportedly missing from the body. Except for the confession of the accused, no evidence could have proved the crime was found. The trial court also failed to examine the credibility of the prosecution's evidence.

The crime dated back to May 7, 2019 when a six-year-old girl went missing from Prayagraj. A month later on June 22, the body of the girl was found in a deteriorated state in an under-construction building.

There was no evidence of the victim being seen or spotted anywhere alone or with someone. For 45 days the family did not suspect rape, although they were worried about the child's whereabouts. The sessions court, after running a trial, declared the accused as guilty and sentenced him to death. However, the High Court, refusing to confirm the death sentence on receiving an appeal against the sentence, acquitted the appellant of all charges.