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Rajasthan High Court Rejects Plea to Suspend Murder Sentence
A woman in Rajasthan was convicted of killing her husband and sentenced to life in prison.
She asked the High Court to pause that sentence while her appeal was pending.
The court refused to pause it.
Their nine-year-old daughter told the court that she saw her mother stab her father.
The girl also said during questioning that she had spoken as her grandmother told her, but she denied not seeing the stabbing.
A medical report found a stab wound in the father’s chest.
Police also recovered the alleged weapon after information given by the woman.
Her lawyer argued that she was falsely accused and raised questions about the police report and the injury evidence.
The High Court said murder sentences should be suspended only in exceptional cases, but it has not yet decided the woman’s appeal.
The Rajasthan High Court refused to suspend a woman’s life sentence for murdering her husband.
The court cited testimony from the couple’s nine-year-old daughter, who said she saw her mother stab her father.
A postmortem report recorded a stab wound to the man’s chest, while the alleged weapon was recovered after the woman’s disclosure statement.
The defence argued that the woman was falsely implicated, highlighted an alleged delay in the FIR, and pointed to the single recorded injury.
The court said sentence suspension in murder cases should be limited to exceptional circumstances and dismissed the plea while leaving the appeal undecided.
- Who
- The Rajasthan High Court, the convicted woman, and the woman’s nine-year-old daughter were central to the proceedings.
- What
- The High Court dismissed the woman’s application to suspend her life sentence for murdering her husband.
- Where
- The proceedings were before the Rajasthan High Court.
- When
- The trial court convicted and sentenced her on August 22, 2025; the High Court issued the sentence-suspension order on September 14.
- Why
- The court relied on the child’s testimony, the postmortem finding of a chest stab wound, the recovery of the alleged weapon, and the seriousness of the murder conviction.
Defence Arguments
Court’s Assessment
Reliability of the child’s testimony
Defence Arguments
The defence highlighted that the girl said during cross-examination that she had deposed as told by her grandmother.
Court’s Assessment
The court noted that she specifically denied the suggestion that she had not seen her mother stabbing her father.
Strength of the prosecution case
Defence Arguments
The woman’s counsel argued that she had been falsely implicated, pointed to an alleged delay in lodging the FIR, and emphasized that the postmortem showed only one injury.
Court’s Assessment
The court relied on the daughter’s testimony, the chest stab wound, and recovery of the alleged weapon based on the woman’s statement.
Suspension of sentence
Defence Arguments
The woman sought suspension of her sentence while her criminal appeal was pending.
Court’s Assessment
The bench said suspension in murder convictions should be granted only in exceptional cases and found the nature and gravity of the proved accusation did not justify suspension.
Key facts
- Sentence
- Life imprisonment for murder, plus a Rs 5,000 fine.
- Default punishment
- Two months’ additional simple imprisonment for nonpayment of the fine.
- Key testimony
- The couple’s nine-year-old daughter said she saw her mother stab her father.
- Medical evidence
- The postmortem report recorded a single stab injury to the man’s chest.
- Weapon evidence
- The alleged weapon was recovered based on the woman’s disclosure statement.
- Court’s decision
- The application to suspend the sentence was dismissed.
- Appeal status
- The High Court did not decide the criminal appeal in this order.
Quotes
Rajasthan High Court bench of Justices Mahendar Kumar Goyal and Praveer Bhatnagar
The two-judge Rajasthan High Court bench hearing the sentence-suspension application and criminal appeal
“Amongst others, Ms ‘S’ -daughter of the applicant and the deceased aged about nine years has deposed to have seen the applicant (mother) inflicting a stab wound to her father…she has specifically denied the suggestion that she did not see the applicant stabbing her father. The weapon of offence was recovered on the disclosure statement of the applicant”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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