A man from Uttar Pradesh, who was sentenced to death for the 2012 rape and murder of a six-year-old girl, has been acquitted by the Supreme Court after spending 10 years in jail. The acquittal came on September 28, when a three-judge bench found that there was no solid evidence against the accused, Chotkau.
The Supreme Court criticized the police for conducting a flawed investigation and reprimanded both the sessions court and Allahabad High Court, which had sentenced and confirmed Chotkau’s death penalty. Although the crime was described as “ghastly,” the Court noted that the prosecution failed to present any credible evidence.
The bench, consisting of Justices S Abdul Nazeer, AS Bopanna, and V Ramasubramanian, emphasized that the justice system should not create another victim in its effort to right a wrong, stating, “A court cannot make someone a victim of injustice to compensate for the injustice to the crime victim.”
Chotkau, a resident of Shravasti district, claimed that he was framed by a relative, the village head’s husband, in a property dispute. The man was so poor that he couldn’t afford a lawyer during his trial, and only after several requests did the judge appoint a lawyer to assist him as amicus curiae.
In 2014, the trial court sentenced Chotkau to death, a decision upheld by the Allahabad High Court in 2016. However, former High Court judge S Nagamuthu took up the case, revealing several inconsistencies in the prosecution’s arguments.
The Supreme Court found major contradictions in witness statements regarding key details, such as the lodging of the FIR, the location of the body, and the victim’s clothing. These inconsistencies, which were overlooked by the lower courts, led the bench to doubt the prosecution’s claims.
The Court ruled that the evidence was insufficient to prove Chotkau’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt, overturning his conviction and ordering his immediate release.
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