Delhi HC upholds trial court's punishment awarded to convict for killing step-daughter

The Delhi High Court has upheld a trial court order awarding a man rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of his life for killing his step-daughter.

A Division Bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangeet Dhingra Sehgal held Ramjani guilty of murdering his five-year-old step-daughter.

"...This court is of the opinion that the chain of events is complete and the circumstances conclusively prove the guilt of the appellant-convict. Consequently, the prosecution has successfully proved beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant-convict (Ramjani) had murdered his stepdaughter Khushbul."

According to prosecution, Ramjani lodged a false missing complaint regarding his stepdaughter on November 13, 2016. Thereafter, the convict had withdrawn the said complaint on the very next day on the ground that his stepdaughter had been found by his nephew and the convict had sent his daughter with his wife to the native village in Bihar.

The prosecution told the court that while withdrawing the missing compliant, the convict had neither examined nor produced his wife Sahana or his nephew.

Later, her daughter's body was recovered on November 17, 2016, from Bhalaswa lake in the national capital.

As per the post-mortem examination report of the deceased, the cause of the death was opined to be "asphyxia secondary to ante mortem drowning".

When the police went to the convict's native village in Bihar, neither his wife nor his daughter was found.

The court said that "the prosecution has successfully proved that Khushbul was last seen alive with the appellant-convict on November 13, 2016. At that time, Khushbul was wearing a "red frock and green colour pyjami" and the same clothes were found on the deceased, which conclusively proves that the deceased was Khushbul.