HC acquits man after 19 yrs in jail for foster daughter's murder
Cutack: A 69-year-old man, who has been in prison for 19 years for the murder of his 19-year-old foster daughter in 2005, was acquitted by
Orissa high court
on Tuesday due to
insufficient evidence
.
A division bench of Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Chittaranjan Dash overturned Rajendra Jain's life sentence, imposed by a trial court in Jharsuguda, giving him the benefit of doubt since circumstantial evidence failed to conclusively establish his guilt.
Rajendra, currently lodged in Sambalpur Circle Jail, was accused of killing Pinky by stabbing her multiple times when she was alone in the house at Gandhinagar in Belpahar, Jharsuguda district, on Dec 27, 2005. Additional sessions judge, Jharsuguda, A K Patnaik convicted him and handed him a life sentence on Nov 28, 2006.
Pinky and her newly-wed husband was staying with Rajendra and Manju, her foster parents, when the incident happened.
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Rajendra, who apparently fled the scene, was arrested after he surrendered at Brajrajnagar police station on Jan 2, 2006, and had since been in jail. He filed a jail criminal appeal (JCRLA) in the high court on Feb 24, 2007, but it never came up for hearing.
In Sept 2023, advocate Bikash Chandra Parija was assigned by the high court legal services committee to represent Rajendra after it came to light that no one had appeared on his behalf.
According to the bench, in a case based solely on circumstantial evidence, the chain of circumstances must be complete, each link must be established with clarity, and the entire sequence must point unerringly to the guilt of the appellant. "In the present case, the prosecution has failed to meet this threshold," the bench observed.
It stated that the last seen theory was not established and the blood-stained trouser, allegedly recovered from the spot, was not proven to be one belonging to Rajendra. The court further observed that the motive remains speculative in light of post-mortem findings, which ruled out sexual assault, while the recovery of weapons was also doubtful.
While directing Rajendra's immediate release unless he is required in connection with any other case, the bench noted that glaring gaps and inconsistencies rendered the prosecution's case insufficient to establish his guilt. "We are of the considered view that the prosecution has not been able to prove the charge against the appellant beyond all reasonable doubt, and the evidence on record falls short of the standard required to fasten criminal liability," the bench said.
Jailer Santosh Barik said Rajendra would be released on Thursday. "He has some mental health issues. His family members have not come. We are figuring out how to go about his release," he said.
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