Gwalior: A special court in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior has sentenced a 51-year-old woman to life imprisonment for killing her physically challenged newborn granddaughter.
Premlata Chauhan, who strangled the infant to death earlier this year, was found guilty after the court confirmed the evidence against her and ordered her to be jailed for life.
While delivering the verdict on November 9, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nitin Kumar Mujalda said such crimes against vulnerable children cannot be tolerated in society. "Mercy cannot be shown to those who commit such heinous acts," the judge remarked. Premlata Chauhan has been in custody since her arrest in April.
The court sentenced Premlata to life imprisonment with an additional three months of rigorous imprisonment in this case. In the order, the Chief Judicial Magistrate said the case stemmed from a crime committed on March 26-27, 2024, where the accused killed her newborn granddaughter due to her disability, reflecting a tragic case of gender inequality and rejection of a female child.
The defence, led by Advocate Neerah Verma, argued that the accused was a first-time offender, elderly, and had already been in judicial custody for several months, requesting leniency in sentencing. However, the prosecution emphasised the severity of the crime, urging the court to impose the harshest punishment.
After considering the facts, including the accused's lack of previous convictions and the circumstances of the crime, the court found that while the act was cruel, the death penalty was not warranted. Instead, the court deemed life imprisonment, with an alternative sentence of three months of rigorous imprisonment, to be a more appropriate punishment.
The case was processed through various legal stages, including the charge sheet on July 9 and the framing of charges on July 30 with the final judgement being delivered on November 9.
According to Dharmendra Sharma, Public Prosecutor, District Court Gwalior, the incident occurred earlier this year when Premlata's daughter-in-law, Kajal Chauhan was admitted to Kamala Raja Hospital in Gwalior on March 23 where she gave birth to a baby girl with a congenital disability in her left hand, with the lower part of her elbow missing.
Premlata, who desired a male child, could not bear her daughter-in-law giving birth to a female child. According to the prosecutor, the physical condition of the infant became the reason behind Premlata's actions.
"On March 26, Premlata visited the hospital and took the infant from her mother, claiming she would put her to sleep. However, she allegedly wrapped the baby in a blanket and strangled her to death. The infant's neck bore visible injury marks," Sharma said.
"Kajal informed her family about the incident, leading to the filing of a murder case against Premlata at the Kampoo police station. According to Kajal, Premlata harboured a wish for a grandson," he said.
Following the postmortem, which attributed the cause of death to strangulation, suspicion fell on Premlata. "She initially denied it but eventually confessed to the crime during police interrogation. Premlata was arrested and charged with infanticide," the Public Prosecutor said.
"The crime was a brutal and inhumane act that demands severe punishment," the prosecutor stated.
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